The One You're With
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Susannah is a normal girl with a decent-paying job at SIP – and the secrets she keeps have to hide the truth of her personal life. But what happens when her Dominant, Christian Grey, begins to secretly fall in love with her friend and coworker, Ana Steele? Perhaps both of them are now ready to move on to the next chapter of their lives. Ana/CG, Susannah/OC HEA - ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Opening

Friday, 5:04 pm

Susannah's apartment

*5 weeks into contract*

* * *

Susannah stood by the edge of her bed, a black hold-all and suitcase packed and ready on top of her duvet. All that was left to pack was her blue garment bag, which laid open on her bed beside a beautiful little dress. It was a champagne-colored empire v-neck cocktail dress created by a famous designer Susannah forgot, but the beaded design along the bodice made her fall completely in love. The dress was so elegant, and it fit her body perfectly – she couldn't help but run her fingers along the fabric, a small smile tugging at her lips.

The sound of her doorbell ringing caused Susannah to quickly stop caressing her pretty dress and stuff it into her garment bag, her heart pounding. Who was at the door? She wasn't expecting anyone. Closing her garment bag so the dress was hidden from view, she turned and hurried down the hallway, trying her best to quiet her pounding heartbeat.

Pressing her eye against the peephole on her front door, she recognized the two people standing there, and relaxed slightly. With a small, resigned smile, she turned the handle and opened the door.

"Hi Susie!" Ana Steele, her fellow copyeditor at SIP, was standing on her porch with Claire, the company secretary. Both of them were smiling brightly, dressed casually in jeans, graphic tees, and hobo bags slung over their shoulders. They looked giddy about something.

"Hi. What are you guys doing here?" Susannah couldn't help but smile, stepping aside to let them in.

"We've come to take you out drinking tonight. Everyone at work is meeting up at Gino's at 5:30." Claire elaborated, following Ana inside. Claire Nadale was considered the office's exotic beauty, what with her gorgeous, olive-colored skin and dark, almond-shaped eyes. She, Ana, and Susannah were all good friends, and were often teased around the office for being the "Charlie's Angels" of SIP, even though Susannah and Ana were both brunette.

"I can't tonight, guys. Sorry," Susannah said, shrugging apologetically.

"You don't look busy," Ana pointed out, crossing her arms and smirking. Susannah glared sarcastically back.

"I'm packing," she moved toward her bedroom and pushed open the door to show her luggage strewn around her bed. "I'm visiting my brother in Spokane for the weekend."

Claire looked heartily disappointed. "Again?" she asked, huffing despondently, and Susannah nodded, apologetic.

"This is like the fifth weekend in a row you've gone to visit him. Is everything okay?" Ana looked concerned for her friend, and Susannah nodded again.

"Yeah, yeah… everything's fine." Susannah hoped the tone of her voice conveyed her wish to not discuss the matter in-depth. "It's just that Ben really needs me right now. Since his divorce, he's just been…" she trailed off, shaking her head, and luckily Claire and Ana didn't pursue the subject.

"We get it," Claire quickly held up her hand. "It's personal – you don't have to explain to us. It's fine."

"Need some help packing?" Ana asked kindly, putting an arm around Susannah's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. Susannah smiled... Ana really was a sweet person.

"No, I got it. Thanks." Susannah leaned into Ana's embrace and gave her a little nudge. Both women smiled.

"C'mon Ana," Claire nodded toward the front door. "Let's get going. We can give Kate a call and see if she's free." Claire suddenly grinned. "Then we'd _really_ be Charlie's Angels."

The three of them laughed. "Okay – let's go, Angel," Ana giggled, moving over toward Claire and hooking an arm through hers. "Let's get our drink on!"

The three of them laughed, and Claire and Ana moved together toward the door, waving goodbye as they went. Susannah followed them before stopping and leaning against the doorframe; she watched as they continued to head down the walkway of her house toward their car, chatting happily with each other.

Susannah allowed the smile to linger on her face as she watched her friends drive away. Once their car had turned the corner, however, her smile faded, and a melancholy feeling pervaded her senses. With a heavy heart, she turned around and headed back into her house to finish packing.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Susannah once again walked out her front door, this time with her luggage in hand, and headed over to her Audi A3. She quickly tossed her suitcase and hold-all into the trunk of her little car before getting into the driver's seat, setting her garment bag on the passenger's side. She turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

As Susannah cruised through the city of Seattle, she turned on the radio and hummed along to a Billy Joel song, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel as she drove. Her eyes kept moving to the clock on her stereo, counting the minutes, and praying to God she wasn't going to be late.

At 5:36 she pulled up to Esclava, a thoroughly modern-looking beauty salon on the other side of town. She quickly stepped out of her car with her garment bag and hurried in. For over an hour she stayed there, and by 6:40, she walked out of the front doors again, completely transformed – while she had entered the salon wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans, now she rocked her champagne-colored number with gold peep-toe pumps and a rose gold pendant necklace. Her brown hair was pulled back in a sleek up-do; black kohl and shimmery eye shadow lined her eyes, nude gloss coated her lips, acrylic nails glued to her fingers and toes, and her skin was buffed and waxed to silky smooth perfection. Anyone who had seen her an hour ago would never have recognized her.

Getting back in her car with her things, Susannah began to head over to the Pike Market District, her heavily made-up eyes glancing anxiously at the clock as she drove along. By 6:55, she had pulled into an underground parking garage and parked in a reserved space beside another Audi. Opening her trunk, she grabbed her suitcase and hold-all before making her way to the service elevator.

Once inside, she punched in the code and the elevator began to coast smoothly upward. Susannah took advantage of the calm silence to take a few deep breaths and try to make herself seem as composed as possible.

The doors finally opened, and Susannah stepped out into the large foyer. While her first visit to this magnificent place had caused her to stop and stare with her mouth open, she now walked purposefully toward the great room, looking ahead confidently with her back straight and her head up. Her heels clicked on the immaculate marble floor while her posture radiated sophistication and class.

She entered the great room, and her eyes, as usual, were drawn to the opposite wall, which was a giant window overlooking the city of Seattle. The sun had finally set, and twilight was beginning to spread across the cloudless sky. The vision was breathtaking, and Susannah was able to forget her nerves for a brief second as she gazed out at the inky blue dusk.

"Good evening, Ms. Richardson."

Susannah glanced to her right, and saw a very handsome man standing near a large U-shaped couch beside the fireplace. He had noticed Susannah and had turned toward her, a glass of Armagnac in his hand and a sphinxlike smile on his face. His copper-colored hair looked tousled and sexy, while his white button-down shirt was open at the collar. He looked like a wealthy man luxuriating in his own opulence… which, Susannah supposed, he was.

"Good evening, Sir," she greeted quietly, and the man continued to smile as he moved toward her, glancing at his watch.

"7:00 – you're punctual, Ms. Richardson. I like that," he stopped a few feet in front her, taking a sip of his Armagnac while gazing at her. His eyes then moved over her entire body, and Susannah blushed at his scrutiny.

"I'm glad you took my advice and did a little shopping," he smiled, admiring her pretty dress rather lustfully. He moved forward and grasped her chin in his hand so her eyes locked with his. "You look lovely, Susannah. The color suits you."

"Thank you, Sir." Susannah's heart beat faster with delight from his praise.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No, Sir."

He regarded her for a moment before releasing her chin and taking her hand. "Come. My housekeeper made some chicken penne for dinner." He led her into the kitchen, where the delicious smell of grilled chicken and marinara sauce filled Susannah's senses. She inhaled the delectable scent, smiling to herself.

"Would you like a glass of chardonnay?"

"Thank you, Sir."

He produced two crystal wine glasses and a bottle of white wine. He glanced over at her, his eyes bright. "You may take your things up to your room, Susannah – I can get our food ready. We'll eat, and then perhaps at eight o'clock head over to the playroom…" His eyes smoldered the tiniest hint. "…To have a little fun."

Susannah's breath hitched ever so slightly. "Sounds good, Sir."

He gazed at her, his eyes displaying his feral lust. He abandoned the wine and suddenly moved toward Susannah, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her body flush against his. Susannah let out a gasp as he brought up one hand and grasped her chin, tilting her face up so she looked straight into his eyes.

"Enough with the 'Sir'," he said huskily, his expression almost savage. "Say my name."

Susannah blinked up at him, and regained enough of her composure to whisper in a seductive purr: "Master Grey."

Christian growled his approval as he pulled her into a rough, dominating, possessive kiss, his hands moving down to lift the hem of her dress and grasp her firmly on the backs of her thighs. Susannah felt a shiver run through her entire body, reveling in his roaming hands and imperious mouth. Oh, this was what she needed…

"Get upstairs and put away your things…" he whispered hoarsely against her lips, breathing heavily. His eyes were dark as he gazed at her. "We eat in ten minutes."

"Yes, Master Grey," Susannah whispered breathlessly, and Christian grinned. He pulled away from her and gave her a sharp slap on the butt to send her on her way.

"Good girl."

 _End Opening_

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry I had to re-upload this, but I was informed my original story was too similar to another one on FSoG fanfiction. I've changed a couple elements to it, so I hope you enjoy this new and improved version!**

 **If you would like to see Susannah's dress, simply Google search 'Sue Wong champagne beaded empire waist dress'. It's the first or second image that comes up.**

 **A little Ana/Christian will be up in the next chapter, so please review and let me know what you think so far!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Many of you seem to be wondering if I'm going to be showing any Christian/Susannah BDSM scenes. The answer is no – there will be a few scenes in future chapters with Christian and Susannah, but I wasn't planning on showing them having sex, kinky or not. The first chapter was simply a means of introducing to you the dual life of Susannah Richardson. So don't worry, my wonderful readers – some Christian/Ana will be on the way!:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 8:32 am

Seattle Independent Publishing

~Ana~

"Good morning!" Ana bubbled as she entered the annex near the back of SIP, striding toward the desk clump she shared with the other copyeditors. Susannah glanced up from her computer.

"'Morning Ana," Susannah couldn't help but grin. "You're very chipper today."

"Am I?" Ana smirked as she sat down in the desk adjacent to Susannah. "Do we have any new manuscripts to look over today?"

Susannah clicked through her inbox. "Um… none today. But Rhys from developmental editing sent a mass email saying he needs the Cormann script by Friday. Isn't that one yours?"

"Yeah, it is," Ana grinned proudly. Cynthia Cormann was one of SIP's top-selling authors, and her manuscripts were always looked over by the best editors. "I only have a couple chapters to go before I'm done, so I'll let Rhys know."

"Already?" Susannah was surprised. "Didn't you just get that manuscript?"

"Yeah, but I edit over the weekend sometimes," Ana blushed and shrugged evasively. Susannah smirked at her.

"Suck-up..." she sing-songed quietly, and Ana made a face at her.

"Oh, shut up – you know I want to be acquisitions editor someday. And not all of us have siblings in Spokane to visit with every weekend," she said snappishly. Susannah smiled, but said nothing as Ana pulled out her work bag and began rifling through it, searching for the manuscript.

"Oh, shit," Ana gazed into her bag, suddenly horrified. She looked up at Susannah. "I forgot my manual!"

The Chicago Manual of Style was the copyeditor's bible: it needed to be persistently consulted throughout the editing process. Susannah grimaced at her friend in sympathy. "Tough break, Steele. You're gonna have to make do without it."

"I can't! You know I have to finish the Cormann script," Ana huffed, reaching back into her bag and digging around. "I can't believe I forgot it! I must've left it on my bedside table when I was working last night."

Susannah looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Ana. I would lend you mine, but I'm making a style sheet for a new author today. I need my manual."

Ana continued to dig around in her bag fruitlessly for a few seconds before throwing it away with a dispirited look. "Fuck."

"Just ask Marcy if you can run home and get it. It'll only take like fifteen minutes," Susannah suggested, clicking out of her email.

"I'd rather not," Ana glowered. "She'll chew me out for being incompetent or forgetful or whatever…"

"Still better than Jack," Susannah said fairly, and Ana couldn't help but smirk humorlessly. Jack Hyde was their previous boss and the man who had hired Ana over a year ago. Both she and Susannah had worked under Jack, and knew what a horrible person he was – he had always come off to them as a bit of a creepy guy, but about six months ago, their lofty suspicions about him were confirmed when security had caught him in his office after hours with a girl from accounting. She was huddled half-naked and crying on the floor, and Jack was arrested on the spot. The news of what happened spread around the office the next day, and about five or six other women, including Claire, came forward saying that Jack had touched them inappropriately at some point during their time at SIP. Jack was immediately fired and brought up on charges of sexual harassment, garnering enough publicity that day to make the front page of the Seattle Times.

For weeks afterward, SIP was in complete bedlam, with management being almost nonexistent and eight people on staff quitting out of frustration. Ana was strongly tempted to quit herself, as it was clear their corporate manager, Mr. Roach, was totally incompetent at handling a crisis like this. Fortunately, however, SIP was bought out by a big-name corporation that restructured everything, firing Roach while hiring new managers and giving the workers who stayed on staff large bonuses. Business ran smoothly from that point on, but everybody knew that the new boss that was hired, Marcy Kaplan, was pretty tough to please.

Ana now idly picked at a piece of lint on her shirt, her voice laced with dark sarcasm: "You think if I let Marcy grope me, she'll let me get my book?"

Susannah couldn't help but giggle ruefully. "Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?" she shrugged, and Ana shook her head with a grimace. "Maybe you could offer to pick up a latte for her on the way back from your place? That at least would put her in a good mood."

Ana's eyes suddenly brightened. "Hey, there's an idea! And that way Marcy'll know that I'm not trying to ditch out on my work or anything…" Ana quickly grabbed her discarded bag and car keys before hopping to her feet. "I'll be back soon."

"Get me a chai!" Susannah called after her retreating figure, and Ana turned around to stick her tongue out playfully. Susannah laughed before turning back to her computer and getting back to work.

* * *

Monday

9:23 am

~Christian~

"Dwayne Rigsby has a clean record, Christian. I've had him checked out myself – where's your faith in me, bro?"

Christian frowned at his brother: surely he should know the protocol by now. "Elliot, you insisted on an outside hire for your second-in-command. I'm not having you take any chances on this guy – this decision affects me as much as it does you."

"But isn't it enough you had your Welch guy do a background check? You have to come and interrogate him in person?" Elliot scowled, but Christian smirked in amusement.

"It's just a breakfast meeting, it's not a big deal. I don't mind getting out of the office for a bit. And besides, weren't you the one who said we needed to spend more time together?" Christian took a sip of his cappuccino, still smirking, and Elliot rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, dude..."

Café De La Vie was where they agreed to meet with and possibly interview someone Elliot was looking to hire for his architectural company. The café was a nice artisan coffee house near the harbor, which overlooked the water through a massive window facing East. Christian liked this venue – the place was classy enough to convey his wealth, as well as open and personable enough to not intimidate people unfamiliar with the amount of power he held.

"The Kapinski thing is barely an issue…" Elliot mumbled petulantly after a moment, fingering the rim of his espresso, and Christian had the urge to roll his eyes right back at him.

"Dwayne's father was a major benefactor to one of my competitors. _I_ am a major benefactor to your company. My concern in the matter is justified."

"More like paranoid," Elliot raised an eyebrow at his brother, and Christian made a sardonic face right back.

"Lately, I feel like every move I make that concerns you I need to cover my ass," Christian shook his head before taking another sip of his coffee. "Since you started dating the Kavanagh girl, I'm half-convinced a tabloid piece about us and our family is going to appear in the _Seattle Times_ tomorrow."

Elliot grinned brightly at the mention of his new girlfriend, whose father owned a sizable portion of the local media. "Kate and I are doing very well, thank you for asking. And she would never do that to us. She and I have a relationship of _trust_ – something you would never understand, little brother."

Christian snorted, but said nothing. He knew better than to say that the power exchanges of BDSM required absolute trust in whoever was participating, therefore Elliot was the one who would never understand. No person in a conventional, vanilla relationship could.

"We said 9:30, right?" Elliot checked his watch and frowned. "He should be here by now."

Christian checked his watch as well, and suppressed an annoyed grunt – lateness did not bode well for Rigsby at this point. Christian was facing the door, and when he saw it open out the corner of his eye, he assumed it was him. Christian looked up, and froze.

It wasn't a man who had walked in, but a woman – a beautiful, petite, chestnut-haired young woman. Christian could only stare at her as she made her way to the counter: she was dressed simply enough in a short-sleeved navy blouse, black skinny jeans, and a brown cross-body bag, but beneath that her body was slender and lithe. As she stood in line for her coffee, Christian saw her turn her head and gaze out the window toward the harbor – the outline of her rosy cheeks and button nose only emphasized her sinfully plump lips, and the natural light of the café accentuated her gorgeous alabaster skin. Her almond-shaped eyes were the most beautiful shade of powder blue, and Christian felt all reason and logic leave his body as he continued to stare at this angelic creature. There was no other word for it – she was breathtaking.

The angel stood about ten feet away, and hadn't noticed Christian yet; after a few moments however, as she idly gazed around the interior of the café, her eyes met his. Christian's heart rate spiked as they looked at each other, her long lashes fluttering over those gorgeous pools of blue. In that moment, she and her eyes were the only things in the whole world that existed, and he couldn't help but smile.

Their eye contact lasted for only a second, however – it was now her turn to order coffee, and she quickly blinked and turned her attention to the barista, smiling at her in a friendly way.

"Hi! Could I please have a medium mocha latte with skim milk?" Dear Lord, her voice was as beautiful as he imagined it would be, all breathy and sweet. More than anything, Christian wanted to go over there and introduce himself, listen to her speak to him in that beautiful voice, hear his name uttered from those sensual lips…

"Good morning, gentlemen."

Christian didn't even notice Dwayne Rigsby had finally arrived, and he was yanked rudely back to reality. He and Elliot automatically stood up to greet him, but Christian's mind was still with his blue-eyed angel. As the three men sat down, Christian chanced a glance at her again, but she had moved along the counter to take her coffee to go. He saw her thank the barista enthusiastically, practically gushing her thanks, and the girl behind the counter couldn't help but grin as the angel turned and hurried out the coffee shop, latte in hand.

Christian tried to focus in on the meeting he was supposed to be having with Elliot and Rigsby, but it was difficult – his mind was still on the beauty that had walked out the door. The after-effects of her presence still lingered with him, his heart beating erratically and his palms sweating – he blinked several times, trying to focus back on the here and now. This was a business breakfast for Elliot's company, and nothing more.

Christian discreetly straightened his tie and exhaled, trying to control his pounding heartbeat. _Jesus Christ, what just happened to him?_

* * *

 **Please review and tell me what you think so far!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews! To the guest reviewer who defended my story – thank you! It was unnecessary, but very much appreciated!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Tuesday, 8:51 am

GEH Building

~Ana~

Ana's foot jiggled nervously as she and Marcy drove toward the Grey Enterprise Holdings building, a monolithic structure of steel and glass placed right in the heart of the city. Marcy, wearing a crisp gray pantsuit and her black hair up in a knot today, pulled her red Ford 500 into the above-ground parking structure next door to GEH. Ana, in the passenger seat, simply tugged at the hem of her charcoal pencil skirt, hoping fervently she looked decent enough for their corporate meeting.

Ana was going to meet their new corporate boss for the first time today. Due to some incentive policy, Marcy had insisted that one of her employees accompany her on her monthly meeting with the GEH executive in charge of Seattle Independent Publishing, Marco Perez. Susannah was the employee who was actually meant to go with her this month, considering the good feedback she had received from some of her authors, but she had declined. She didn't give any reason as to why, but insisted that Ana go in her stead, and Ana of course agreed immediately. This was a great opportunity for her to get to know her new bosses, showing them how competent and hardworking she could be, especially since the Hyde incident. She wasn't going to pass it up.

Now if only her palms would stop sweating…

"You've nothing to be nervous about, Ana," Marcy said suddenly, and Ana blinked before looking over at her. "These meetings with the new bosses are just formalities. I know you've never attended one before, but I assure you that your role is simply to observe. Nothing more."

Marcy was rarely this candid with her, and Ana wasn't sure what to do other than smile and thank her once again for the opportunity to do this. The truth was that she was very excited to be here with Marcy, but she wasn't sure what Marco or the other execs were going to be like or how she was supposed to act around them. She supposed as long as she didn't embarrass herself too much, she'd be fine.

Trying to relax, Ana took a deep breath and allowed her mind to drift to more relaxing scenarios. She soon found herself dwelling on the one person that had been occupying her thoughts for the last 24 hours now: Hot Coffee House Guy. Ana bit back a smile – yesterday, when picking up a latte at Marcy's favorite café, Ana had managed to lay eyes on the single most gorgeous man in existence. He was sitting near the back of the café with another guy, but she still could recall every single detail about him: from his broad, muscular shoulders and square jaw, to his dark gray power suit and his stylishly messy reddish-brown hair. He had looked right at her with his stunning gray eyes and gave her a smile… an actual _smile_. Ana sighed wistfully; even the memory of those perfect rows of white teeth directed at her made her swoon.

Ana saw cute guys around Seattle on a regular basis, but she had never dwelt on fantasies about them before. For the first time ever, she couldn't stop thinking about a guy, and she figured she might as well enjoy it.

Marcy finally parked her car, and the two of them stepped out. Neither of them said anything as they made their way to the service elevator, and Ana continued to focus on steadying her erratic heartbeat.

 _It's only a couple hours… I'll be fine… think of Hot Coffee House Guy…_

* * *

~Christian~

Christian arrived at the office this morning around 7:45, his mind buzzing with the important things he knew he had to do today. The CEO of Kyoto Technologies, Akio Tadashi, was visiting GEH this week to talk about the opening of a new solar energy plant in Hong Kong. Christian was supposed to meet up with him around lunchtime to talk financials and a possible investment from his company. Christian honestly liked Mr. Tadashi, who was a young, successful businessman much like himself, and was sincerely hoping to do business with him today. Though Tadashi wasn't to know that yet – Christian always thought it smarter to play his cards close to his chest.

Christian was working at his desk for about fifteen minutes before Andrea arrived for the day, bustling into his office with his schedule and his usual cup of strong black coffee. The smell of the coffee made him think back to the café yesterday, and, of course, to the blue-eyed angel who had had a starring role in his dreams all last night.

He sighed inwardly; he had no idea who she was, which frustrated the hell out of him. He had asked the barista in the café if she knew her, but she didn't – the angel had rushed out of the café without leaving her name, and she had paid for her coffee in cash so there wasn't a record of her credit card to potentially glean information from. Security footage wouldn't have given him any new information either, but Christian was still tempted to hack it just so he could have a documented visual of the angel he could keep for himself.

Christian closed his eyes – by God, that girl was beautiful. He saw many gorgeous women on a daily basis, but _this_ girl… he could still picture her, with her long, wavy brown hair and sky-blue eyes and perfect body. But who _was_ she? The mystery of her identity no doubt added to her appeal, but Christian was used to getting answers. The fact that he couldn't get info on her was aggravating and arousing at the same time…

Something like guilt suddenly pricked in the back of his brain, and it took a moment for him to recognize it. And then it hit him – Susannah _._ His heart thudded in his ribcage. Shit, he had forgotten about her. She was his current sub… while he wasn't technically cheating on her, he still knew he couldn't go around fantasizing about other women. He had always been adamant about being monogamous in his Dom/sub relationships, as per the contract, and any sort of behavior leading toward infidelity was totally unacceptable.

No matter how beautiful the shade of blue a girl's eyes were…

Christian finally opened his eyes, determined to throw himself into his work. What with potentially distracting thoughts of a certain woman, he knew he'd have to redouble his efforts just to concentrate today.

Shit, this day was going to drag…

* * *

~Ana~

Holy crap, this place was huge! Ana couldn't help but gape as she and Marcy made their way through the massive, sun-drenched foyer of GEH. Businessmen and women wearing suits and carrying expensive leather briefcases bustled through the glass-covered area while talking urgently into their smartphones or Bluetooth devices; they hurried in and out of the dozen or so silver elevators on the opposite side of the lobby, still blabbing on their phones. The place positively reeked of modern sophistication, and Ana couldn't help but feel a sense of inadequacy as she shuffled behind Marcy, who moved with purpose toward the security desk for their clearance passes.

Once they had their badges, they moved toward the elevators and stepped inside the nearest one, seven or eight other people following them in. They coasted smoothly upward, toward the top floor of the building, and Ana watched the numbers above the door ticking higher and higher. She focused on her breathing.

Once on the top floor, Ana and Marcy stepped out, and Marcy led the way down the wide hallway that held the executive offices.

"Mr. Grey himself has his office up here," Marcy said to Ana, trying to sound impressive. Ana _was_ impressed, mostly because she had no idea who this Mr. Grey actually was. The company was named after him, however, so he must've been a pretty powerful guy.

"Marco's office is just around the corner," Marcy stopped walking after a minute or so, right in front of a corner receptionist's desk. She turned to look at Ana. "I'm going to check in right now with his assistant Dahlia, but we're still a little early. Is there anything you need before we head in? Tea? Water?"

"No thanks," Ana said quickly, trying to sound normal, but biting her lip nervously all the same. "Um… I think I'm going to run to the ladies room first, though. Do you know where it is?"

Marcy pointed her in the right direction, and Ana followed where she said, gazing nervously around at the fancy executive suites. Ana opened the door to the bathroom and saw the interior, and she suddenly felt she had been transported into a different world – it was like an Edenic spa with stainless steel furnishings and indoor plumbing. The whole place was softly lit with flowering shrubs and ficus plants surrounding a long white marble counter, which contained fancy baskets filled with everything from lotions and perfumes to Evian and tampons. Ana, who didn't really have to use the bathroom, humored herself for a moment examining the different products rich people could afford to leave out as free samples. Man, she was in way over her head…

Ana was tempted to spritz her neck with the Dior Rose perfume she found in one of the baskets, but instead just grabbed a bottle of Evian, concerned about her throat drying if Marco were to speak to her. She glanced up at her reflection, making sure she didn't look like a total wreck… she looked good enough, she supposed. With one more tug of her sleeves and smoothing down of her hair, Ana finally felt ready to head out, tucking her bottle of Evian into her purse as she stepped out the door.

Her focus was on her purse, so she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings as she walked. Therefore, the moment she stepped out of the bathroom, she knocked right into someone.

"Ooph!" Ana gasped and stumbled slightly as a pair of strong arms reached out and grabbed her, preventing her from falling.

"Oh my God, I'm – I'm so sorry…!" She stammered, thoroughly embarrassed. She quickly tried to straighten up and look at the person she ran into. "Please forgive me, I didn't mean… to…"

Ana's voice died in her throat, and her eyes widened. She finally saw the person who had caught her, and he gazed back at her with equally surprised gray eyes.

 _Oh my God – it's him!_

* * *

~Christian~

Goddammit, why wasn't Samir answering his phone? The guy was irresponsible as shit, but Christian really needed to talk to him about the current shipment of aid to Rwanda. Samir was overseeing that project, and departure of the shipment was set for next month. They still needed to work out the logistics, and since Samir apparently wasn't taking any calls, Christian had no choice but to get up and walk to his office himself. It was only about fifty yards away, but Christian still resented the fact his own employee was forcing him to actively seek him out. This would not reflect well on Samir's performance review on the whole project, Christian already knew.

As he passed by the bathrooms, the door to the ladies room opened in front of him. Christian, out of politeness, stopped just short of the door to allow the woman to pass by before him, but she seemed to be digging through her purse and not looking where she was going. She knocked right into Christian, who instinctively reached out to catch her before she fell.

"Ooph!" she gasped out, stumbling. "Oh my God, I'm – I'm so sorry…!"

The flash of panic and annoyance Christian felt when the woman walked into him dissipated immediately when he saw who it was:

Chestnut hair… sweet, breathy voice… perfect, alabaster skin…

 _Holy shit – it's her!_

The angel! Christian thought his heart had stopped beating, he was so shocked. The woman he had glimpsed only once and whom he had been thinking about nonstop for over a day now was the woman who had fallen right into his arms. He could only stare as she quickly attempted to right herself and apologize again for her clumsiness. Her light blue eyes finally met his, however, and they widened, staring in disbelief, as her apology died right in her throat.

She recognized him. Christian's heart began to hammer in his chest.

"Hi," she squeaked after a long moment, her long lashes fluttering over her baby blues. Christian swallowed.

"Hi," he said, his voice cracking slightly. Jeez, what was wrong with him? "I remember you," he blurted out without thinking, and his body tingled with embarrassment. The angel smiled at him, however.

"I remember _you_ ," she giggled breathlessly, and Christian felt his cock twitch. _Dear Lord, that laugh…_ "The café on the harbor, right?"

His breath hitched. "Yeah," he said quietly, his eyes still locked onto hers. He could get lost in those oceans of blue.

"I'm Ana," she offered up quietly, as if she could see right into his soul and know the desperate desire he had to find out her name. He repeated it in his head.

Ana.

 _Ana._

 _The angel's name is Ana._

That name would forever be associated with heavenly choirs to him from now on.

"Christian," he responded with a small smile, sticking out his hand. He saw her breath hitch slightly as she reached up and shook his hand with her own. Her skin was soft and warm, and Christian couldn't help but hold her hand for a second longer and run his thumb along her smooth knuckles, resisting the urge to kiss them.

"Christian," she repeated with her delicate voice while biting her lip. She smiled, and Christian thought he could die happy right then and there. "It's nice to finally meet you."

 _Dear Lord, that lip._ That one little gesture made his heart hammer a furious tattoo against his ribcage, sending blood straight to his dick and guilty thoughts of Susannah straight to the wind.

"You as well." He swore he saw her face blush a delicate pink when he spoke to her. God, this girl was gorgeous.

Ana suddenly glanced down at her watch and looked up at him again with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but I have a meeting with Mr. Perez in a couple minutes. I should really get going."

"Oh. Yeah, absolutely…" Christian said quickly, trying to be polite. "Don't let me keep you."

"Thanks," she smiled, hitching up her purse and taking a step in the opposite direction. "Um… goodbye."

Christian smiled. "Goodbye Ana." She smiled at him before turning and walking away, and he couldn't tear his eyes away until she had turned the corner and disappeared from view.

"Ana…" he said again, but only to himself. He smiled.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading so far! What do you think Christian's going to do now? Leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I appreciate every last one of them:)**

* * *

Tuesday, 9:32 am

Grey Enterprise Holdings

~Ana~

When Ana finally turned the corner, she had to stop and lean against the wall next to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath, trying desperately to formulate her scattered thoughts.

Hot Coffee House Guy's name was Christian. And of all the places in the world he could've been, he had been right where she was – again. What were the odds of that happening twice in two days? Did he work here? Or was he just meeting with someone like she was meeting Marco? Ana figured he probably worked here, since the high-end tailored suit he was wearing fit in with all the GEH executives' wardrobes. Ana blushed to herself – she had felt his eyes on her as she walked away down the hall, and she had been acutely aware of what she chose to wear today: a blue button-down blouse and dowdy skirt she had gotten on sale at Kohls, as well as discount nude round-toe pumps from Payless. She fervently wished she was wearing an outfit designed by Alexander McQueen or Hugo Boss – it would be more fit for GEH, and would impress Christian and his Armani suit more than her budget work clothes would.

Ana smiled wryly to herself – as if _she_ could impress a guy like Christian. With his amazingly good looks and executive power, a guy like him probably spent his time around celebrities and Victoria's Secret models and politicians… women of the upper echelon of society. He wouldn't look twice at a regular girl like her.

But, then again, he had said he remembered seeing her yesterday in the coffee house. She couldn't deny the electricity she felt when they first made eye contact, and wondered briefly if maybe he had felt it too…

"Ana, there you are!"

Ana jumped as Marcy strode up to her, a manila folder in her hand. Marcy stopped and frowned slightly. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine," Ana said quickly, trying to sound more composed than she felt. Interaction with Christian had left her brain feeling fuzzy.

"Great, it's time for our meeting with Marco. You all set?"

Ana nodded, and the two of them began to walk together toward Marco's office, Marcy filling her in on everything they were going to discuss. Ana tried her hardest to pay attention, and felt focused enough to be ushered into the conference room adjacent to Marco's office and be introduced to the man himself while appearing as normal as possible.

After the introductions and mandatory small-talk, the meeting had finally started. A few minutes into discussing SIP's prospects, however, and Ana suddenly realized she had completely forgotten to be nervous. She had been so distracted by Christian's appearance that she had completely forgotten to be intimidated by Marco, the size of his office or the power he held.

Ana smiled wryly to herself. If Hot Coffee House Guy would just show up and distract her before every business meeting she had to attend, she might just be able to climb up that corporate ladder after all.

* * *

After over an hour of talking about last month's finances and next quarter's trajectories and a two-year plan, the meeting with Marco was finally done, and Ana breathed out a small sigh of relief. As much as she wanted Marco to like her and be impressed by her hard work, she couldn't help but feel relieved their little tête-à-tête was over and done with. She packed away her notes in her bag as Marcy and Marco did the same, exchanging pleasantries with one another as if they were the oldest of friends.

"Yeah, Carmela and the kids went to Santa Monica for the weekend," Marco said conversationally to Marcy while snapping his briefcase shut. Marco was an older man with a paternal air about him that Ana found very likable. "I couldn't go, since I was in Illinois for that Naperville distillery acquisition. Forty degrees the entire time, and my son Javi wouldn't stop Snapchatting me pictures of him and his sisters out on the beach…"

Marcy laughed, and started telling him about her recent trip to Toronto with her husband. Ana didn't want to impose on their conversation, so she quietly indicated to them she would step outside the conference room and wait. Marcy nodded dismissively, but Marco smiled fully at her, reaching out to shake her hand and thank her sincerely for coming in Susannah's place. Ana blushed and beamed at his kindness, leaving the conference room in high spirits.

The moment she stepped out, however, she felt a small tingle in her spine. It was the same electric current she felt when she had first laid eyes on _him_ , and sure enough… when she glanced to her left, toward Marco's assistant's desk about ten feet away, she saw Christian there. He was leaning his elbows on the desk, as if he were chatting up the girl sitting there, but his entire focus was on Ana. He slowly straightened up, his eyes never leaving hers, and an unbelievably sexy smirk alighted his handsome features. Ana felt her heart pound in her ribcage as they stared at each other.

Her immediate thought was that he was waiting for her, but dismissed the idea right away. Why on earth would he do that?

 _Don't be ridiculous, Ana_.

His gaze still wouldn't waver from hers, however, and Ana walked tentatively up to him, smiling tremulously. "Hi."

His grin widened. "Hello, Miss Steele."

Ana blinked, surprised. _He knew her last name?_ She stared at him, brow furrowed, and Christian simply raised an eyebrow at her, still smiling.

"How do you know my name?" Ana finally asked, lingering several feet away from the desk. Christian stepped aside and turned his body, politely indicating they could walk and talk together; Ana couldn't help but blush and smile in delight as they made their way down the corridor together, side by side. She heard Marco's assistant giggle behind her.

"I have my ways of finding out vital information," Christian grinned his beautiful smile down at her, and Ana almost swooned. Man, this guy was gorgeous. "I conducted an extensive background check on every young woman named Ana within the entire building in under an hour."

Ana stared at him, taken aback. "Did you really?"

"Yes," he deadpanned, but then leaned in to her and said conspiratorially: "…Or I just asked Marco's assistant who he was meeting with today."

Ana couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, well, that's a relief!"

Christian smiled widely, shoving his hands in his pants pockets. The two of them were meandering at a slower pace than the rest of the businessmen and women bustling around them, but Ana didn't care. She had forgotten all about Marcy and Marco in the conference room as her mind focused entirely on the beautiful man beside her.

"So you work for our new publishing company?" He asked after a moment. _He does work here!_ Ana thought to herself, a fact that made her strangely giddy.

"Yeah, Seattle Independent Publishing," Ana conceded. "I was here with my boss to meet with Mr. Perez to talk about SIP's goals from last month."

"Meeting with the corporate head?" Christian sounded impressed. "That's a huge honor."

Ana couldn't help but laugh. "Not exactly. I'm just filling in for the other girl who was supposed to come today."

Ana glanced up at him, and saw that he was gazing down at her, his eyes noticeably brighter. "Really?" he asked as a small grin spread across his handsome face. "Well… I'm very glad you came instead of her."

Ana's breath hitched in her chest. _Did he really just say that?_ She gazed up at him, hardly even noticing they had stopped in front of the elevators. Christian pressed the down button, but his eyes were still on her, burning with something incredibly hot. Ana stared back at him for a second before smiling.

"Me too," she said quietly, and bit her lip. She swore she heard him gasp slightly when she did that. The elevator doors finally opened, and Christian and Ana stepped inside together, still staring at each other. They dimly realized no one else was inside the car as the doors slid shut behind them, isolated from the rest of the world.

* * *

~Christian~

He didn't mean to do it, really he didn't… but it happened so suddenly that it was impossible for him to realize it before it happened. All he knew was that when the elevator doors closed and Ana was smiling at him like that and was biting her lip in that unbelievably sexy way, his mind blanked, and he just couldn't take it anymore.

 _Oh, fuck it_.

In an instant, Christian moved toward her, crashing his lips to hers in a ferocious kiss; she gasped, dropping her bag to the floor before immediately kissing him back. Her hands jumped to his hair, fingers tangling in his copper locks and pulling him closer to her. He could hardly bring himself to care where her hands were as his own hands spread across her back before sliding down to her slender waist. Christian's tongue plundered her mouth while his teeth grazed along that delectable bottom lip.

 _Pure. Fucking. Heaven._

She groaned as he pressed his erection into her belly while pulling her body closer to his. He was completely lost in this woman – her scent, taste, and essence were sublime, igniting desire throughout his entire body like he'd never felt before. Almost every kiss he'd ever had before was controlled, dominating, and at his instigation. But _this_ kiss… this one was unplanned, uncontrolled, unrestrained… and completely, one hundred percent _hot_. Christian couldn't get enough.

After a minute that felt like an eternity, their kiss broke, slowly and breathlessly, their eyes fluttering open as they gazed at each other. Ana blinked dazedly at him as she slowly slid her hands from his hair and down to his shoulders, and Christian's grip on her waist loosened. It was clear their brains were finally catching up with their actions.

"Ana…" Christian whispered, not sure what he was going to say. He closed and opened his mouth, trying, wanting, _needing_ to say something, because the look in her eyes right now was beyond horrified at what she had done.

The elevator doors opened, and they were suddenly in the lobby, around other people. Ana let out a huff of breath before pulling away from him and quickly bending down to grab her dropped bag. In an instant, she was out of the elevator, pulling the bag over her shoulder while speed-walking across the lobby toward the front doors without a glance back. Christian just watched her leave, trying to gather the thoughts he had left scattered all across the elevator floor.

* * *

 **A/N: There, that should hold you over for a while:) What do you think is going to happen next? Leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I appreciate every single one of them:) Enjoy this new chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Tuesday, 1:15 pm

~Susannah~

* * *

Susannah walked back to her desk from the reception area, having just gone out to lunch with Claire and their friend Helen from IT. They had gone to the Cheesecake Factory to share a slice of peanut butter chocolate pie, but Susannah unfortunately had to leave early – even with Marcy gone for the half the day, she still had a lot of work to do for her author Marion Kenna. She was set to edit his new murder/mystery novel, and felt that she really ought to get a start on it this afternoon. However, when Susannah sat down in her chair to get to work, she couldn't help glancing over at Ana's empty desk and wondering if she and Marcy would be back soon.

Susannah sighed, frowning to herself; she had felt really weird asking Ana to go to GEH in her place, but she knew that going there herself would have been even weirder. While the odds of seeing Sir there was very slim, she knew it would be a lot easier on both of them for her to maintain her distance during the work week. The fact that his company had bought out the company she worked at didn't exactly make this whole arrangement between them any simpler.

She had wondered, when they first signed the contract, why Sir agreed to have a submissive who was technically one of his employees. He might have made an exception for her, and Susannah had briefly entertained the thought that perhaps it was because he had feelings for her beyond that of a normal sub. The idea made her feel… odd, but only for a little while. After a couple weeks under their contract, she came to the conclusion that her employment was just an oversight on his part, and that the background check he had performed on her was more concerned with her medical and sexual histories than her occupational status. Her job wasn't relevant information to him, therefore he had forgotten it.

Susannah glanced down at the platinum and diamond bracelet on her wrist. Sir had given it to her after their first session together in the playroom all those weeks ago. He said the pale pink diamonds embedded within it went well with her coloring, and Susannah had graciously accepted his gift. She wore the bracelet most days of the week simply because of how pretty and expensive it was… not unlike all of Sir's gifts bestowed upon her. The jewelry, the designer wardrobe, the Audi A3, the toys, and, of course, Master Grey himself. Or his body, at least, which certainly wasn't a bad thing.

Susannah touched one of the pink diamonds on her bracelet. For a brief moment, she wondered what it would be like to give up all of these extravagant things for a guy with no money who could just remember where she worked.

A shuffling sound came from her left, and Susannah glanced up to see Ana entering the annex and heading over to their desk clump. She shot Susannah a small smile before settling in at her desk with all her things.

"Hi," Susannah said brightly, legitimately happy to see her friend again. "So how'd it go?"

Ana sat down in her chair and scooted closer to her desk. "Fine," she said evasively, her smile not reaching her eyes. She immediately pulled out one of her manuscripts from her bag and opened it up, picking up a pen and getting right to work.

Susannah frowned at her dismissive attitude. "Everything okay?"

"Hm?" Ana glanced up from her manuscript, big blue eyes trying to convey her innocence. "Oh. Yeah. Everything's fine."

Susannah knew Ana wasn't telling her something, but wasn't sure if she wanted to push the issue. She just smirked slightly and asked, "Was GEH everything you hoped it would be?"

Ana blinked before muttering enigmatically, "That and more." Susannah didn't know what to say to that, but Ana had already turned resolutely back to her manuscript, her face blushing profusely.

Susannah opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment her cell phone rang. Distracted, she picked it up and glanced at the caller ID; her eyes widened with shock when she saw who was calling.

"Um… 'scuse me," Susannah got up from her chair, her eyes still locked on her ringing phone. "I have to take this."

Susannah made her way toward the annex doors to take her call, and as she went, she could just barely hear Ana let out a small sigh of relief. _Interesting_ … Susannah couldn't allow herself to dwell on Ana's strange behavior, however, since the person calling wouldn't be kept waiting.

Once in the front lobby of SIP, where nobody was around, Susannah took a deep breath before pressing 'Accept' and bringing the phone up slowly to her ear, heart beating erratically:

"Good afternoon, Sir."

* * *

~Christian~

Shit, shit, _shit_! Did he really just do that? What on earth wrong with him? He, Christian Grey, the all-powerful, totally in-control CEO of Grey Enterprises had just made out with a girl in an elevator like a horny teenager. The two of them were in his own building around his own employees! He could have been seen at any moment! What the hell was he thinking?

Christian had returned to his office in a daze and ordered Andrea no one should disturb him until his meeting with Tadashi in an hour. Once his office doors closed behind him, he leaned his back against them, closing his eyes and sighing heavily.

He had scared Ana off for good, he was sure. That idea alone depressed the hell out of him, but then there were other factors he needed to consider. The fact that he did something so recklessly stupid in his own building, the fact that he was capable of completely losing his iron-clad control like that, and the fact that he had just made out with a woman when he was technically in a sexual relationship with another all culminated into a sickening feeling of regret deep in his chest he couldn't get rid of.

He felt guilty. That wasn't an emotion was used to experiencing… self-loathing, anger, and lust he was all very familiar with, but guilt was new. He felt guilty because he knew he wanted Ana Steele more than he'd ever wanted a woman before in his life – he wanted her the moment he laid eyes on her the other day. Just the thought of those lusciously pink lips, those long lashes fluttering over those beautiful blue eyes, and those tiny hands tangled in his hair all but made his breath freeze in his lungs and his dick throb with want.

Christian scowled, annoyed at the direction his thoughts were going. This was wrong. He couldn't want Ana – she was sweet and pure and lovely, and he was just a monster who used women as sex objects. He had no right to kiss her the way he did, and he realized now that that was where a lot of his guilt was coming from. He felt he had tainted her somehow…

Christian ran a hand through his hair – he felt like a lost child, with no idea which way to turn. These feelings he was experiencing for Ana were quite new to him, and not something he had ever anticipated becoming an issue while he was under contract. Was there a clause about funny new feelings? A stipulation about kissing other women in elevators? He knew there wasn't, but he was feeling desperate for some kind of guidance at this point.

Should he terminate his contract with Susannah? That action seemed a bit rash – it was only a kiss after all, and he knew nothing else could ever come of him and Ana, as painful as that notion was. However, it did seem unfair to Susannah if he was still with her and his heart was with someone else…

 _Wait, his heart?_ When the fuck did he ever think about himself with a heart? Well, his mind, at least, was dwelling on Ana and not on Susannah, where it was supposed to be.

He couldn't face her this weekend. That much he already knew – he needed some time to readjust to this whole situation, and figure out what he was going to do now. In a moment, Christian had formulated his game plan, and he whipped out his BlackBerry to make the two necessary phone calls:

"Welch, I need you to perform a background check."

"Yes sir."

"She's a young copyeditor who works at our new company, Seattle Independent Publishing. Goes by the name Ana Steele."

"Steele, spelled S-T-E-E-L-E?"

"That's right."

"Okay. Am I looking for anything in particular?"

"No, just the standard. She may have already had a background check done by us since she technically works for GEH, so you can start there, but try to go a little more in-depth. Get it to me by the end of the day if you can."

"Yes, sir."

Christian hung up without a word of parting. He figured having a little more background information on Miss Steele would make her less of a mystery to him, thus eliminating his almost all-consuming fascination with her. He could only hope at this point.

Taking a deep breath, Christian dialed the other person he knew he needed to call, feeling unusually anxious. The line rang three times before a demure female voice answered:

"Good afternoon, Sir."

"Hello Susannah. Is this a bad time?"

"No, not at all. I'm alone right now." She hesitated a brief moment. "Is Sir alright?"

Christian swallowed, feeling more uncomfortable by the moment, but trying to maintain his authoritative Dom voice. "Everything's fine, Susannah. I just wanted to talk to you about this coming weekend."

"Yes Sir?"

"I've checked my schedule, and it's pretty full all weekend through next Monday. I've got several functions to attend, and I may need to fly out to Japan on Sunday morning." Those weren't complete lies, Christian rationalized – he did in fact have two charity functions he was supposed to attend on Saturday; however, they probably wouldn't have conflicted with his time with Susannah had he planned on having her over. Also, the chances of him having to go to Japan this weekend were slim to none… but he wasn't about to admit that to her.

"Oh, okay," Susannah's soft voice broke through his thoughts. "I can be over tonight at seven o'clock then, Sir."

Christian blinked, frowning in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Susannah didn't say anything for a couple seconds, and Christian worried that he had stumped her. "You…" she stammered nervously before continuing: "You… are too busy this weekend, Sir, so I assumed you… called me because you wanted me over tonight. Sir?

Christian's heart thudded embarrassedly. That was the absolute last thing he wanted. "No! No – sorry, Susannah, that's not what I meant at all. I just wanted to inform you of my plans this weekend, so I don't expect you to come to Escala at all. If you want, we can add another weekend after our 3-month contract is up to make up for the lost time."

"Oh… of-of course, Sir," Susannah stumbled over her words, clearly embarrassed by her mistake. "I… I do apologize, Sir, if I had misunderstood your meaning…"

"It's quite alright, Susannah. Just as long as you know what my plans are now."

"Thank you, Sir."

"And I'll let you know about the following weekend. Okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," Christian said, firm in his resolve. He felt he at least owed her a farewell now. "Have a good day, Susannah."

"Goodbye, Sir."

She hung up, and Christian listened to the dial tone for several seconds before finally pressing end call.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this was a bit of a slower chapter, but I felt our characters needed to recover a bit from the last one. But stay tuned for the next chapter, where stuff actually happens!**

 **Please review:)**


	6. Chapter 6

Wednesday, 12:03 pm

Finn's Corner

~Ana~

* * *

Finn's Corner was Ana's favorite place in the whole world. She had discovered this little haven about a month or so after she moved to Seattle, while taking a leisurely walk along the harbor one sunny weekend in July. Amidst all the high-end restaurants and retail stores, she discovered Finn's Corner: a little artisan café that was located in the nicer part of the city. It was part coffee house, part bookstore, and Ana knew before she had even stepped inside the building that she was in heaven. The place was a family business: Lionel Finn and his two grown children, Mallory and Tony, were the owners, and three people Ana had gotten to know quite well over the past year and a half. Whenever Ana needed somewhere to escape, it was Finn's… and during her lunch break the following day, that's precisely what she did.

"Ana, hey!" Mallory glanced up from behind the counter, a huge smile popping onto her face when she noticed her favorite customer. "Long time no see!"

"Hey Mallory, it's good to see you," Ana smiled brightly, greeting the woman with a huge smile. Mallory Finn was a couple years older than Ana and a bit heavier, but she had a very pretty face and was one of the sweetest people Ana had ever met. She was exactly the sort of company Ana wanted to keep at the moment.

"You here for a book, or some English Breakfast today?" Mallory asked, moving along the counter as if to grab a cup of Ana's favorite tea.

"I'm thinking both – but a book first, if you don't mind," Ana wandered toward the right side of the store, where the shelves of books stood near the large bay window. She fingered the spines, gazing at the titles of each one and wondering which she was going to pick today.

"By all means, look around – we just got that new Cynthia Cormann book, if you're interested. I mean, I'm sure you read it enough when you edited it and everything, but I think it might be cool to see the finished result." Mallory suggested, turning around to restock the coffee mugs on the shelf behind her.

"I might take a look," Ana grinned wryly, eyeing the dustjacket of her book near the store window. "Cynthia ignored a lot of my and Rhys's notes during development, though, so I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to feel while reading it…"

Mallory laughed, and the two of them chatted easily for a few minutes afterward, catching up on each other's lives in a friendly manner. Pretty soon, Ana was beginning to feel the warm comfort that this place so often brought her, and not the distressing confusion she had been experiencing since yesterday morning…

 _Forget that_ , Ana told herself sternly for the millionth time in the last 24 hours. _Forget him_ …

Ana didn't want to think about Christian anymore. Sure, their kiss in the elevator had been nice – amazing, even – but that's all it was. He obviously knew that, and she knew that, and she was going to try to maintain whatever dignity she had left at this point by avoiding confusing thoughts about him from here on out.

 _You're never gonna see him again, Ana. Get over it._

Mallory needed to go to the back room for some inventory-related stuff, and told Ana to just call her to the front when she was ready. Ana agreed, and continued to browse the wide selection of books for the one she was going to buy. Books to her were a source of solace: she was always able to find the one best suited for her needs when the time came, and now was definitely a time when she needed a book. Perhaps an adventure novel this time…

After a few minutes of searching, she had selected a sci-fi drama that looked rather interesting, and was examining the back cover when she heard a voice that sounded awfully familiar:

"See anything you like?"

Ana almost dropped the book from shock. A jolt of electricity shot up her spine, and her entire body seemed to vibrate with his presence. She turned and saw Christian standing there, looking heart-stoppingly gorgeous in a light gray suit and pearl-white tie, hands deep in his pockets and a smile on his unbelievably handsome face. His eyes, which had been roaming the selection of books, met hers after a moment, as steely gray as she remembered them to be.

Ana swallowed, and had to silently remind herself to breathe. She managed a small smile. "You're talking about the books?"

"Well, what else would I be talking about?" He asked innocently, meandering forward to stand beside her by the bookshelf. Ana felt his proximity, and giggled, more out of self-conscious nerves than anything else. What on earth was he doing here?

"Did you follow me here?" Ana asked after a moment, glancing down at her hands when she couldn't meet his eyes. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or not.

Christian cleared his throat, which made Ana glance up again. He looked a bit uncomfortable, and she thought the sheepish expression on his face was totally adorable.

 _Cut it out, Ana!_

"Um… yeah, actually. I did," he looked apologetic. "We kind of had to, uh… track you down." He glanced out the store window, and Ana glimpsed a stoic-looking man in a suit standing beside a black Audi parked on the street. He was talking on his BlackBerry, and met Ana's gaze through the window.

"That's Taylor," Christian explained. "He works for me, and he helped me find you."

"Your own personal 'People-Tracker'?" Ana asked, unable to resist a small smile as she glanced back at Christian. He smiled fully back at her, obviously happy he hadn't offended her by invading her privacy.

"Among other things," he chuckled, glancing down at his shoes. There was a short pause, where neither of them said anything. Ana was wondering why he had taken such measures to fine her, and when he didn't explain, she pressed her lips together in a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Well… you found me," she bit out, shrugging her shoulders in an exaggerated fashion. "What now? I leave, and you come track me down again? 'Tag, you're it, no tag-backs'?"

Christian blinked at the bite in her voice, his smile disappearing from his face. When he spoke, his demeanor was noticeably cooler: "Well, I suppose from the way you ran from me yesterday, you'd think I was hunting you down."

Ana said nothing to that, and frowned slightly. The last thing she expected was for him to turn up here, and especially for him to confront her about what happened between them. From the tone of his voice, though, he almost sounded hurt… of all the ways she expected him to react to her running away after their kiss, this was the absolute last one. This guy was really throwing her for a loop.

After a moment, Christian's expression softened; he sighed, still looking a bit upset. "Look, Ana – I really hated the way we left things yesterday, and I just wanted to see you again so I could apologize for what… transpired in the elevator."

Ana nodded. She understood his reasoning for finding her, of course, but she couldn't help the small pinch of sadness she felt at the idea of him regretting their kiss.

"I, um… I think I should apologize too," Ana said meekly, glancing up at him again. A blush stole over her face as she shook her head. "I've never done anything like that before, and I just…" She paused a moment, grimacing embarrassedly. "I handled it badly, and I'm sorry."

Christian grinned fully at her, looking relieved. "I've never done anything like that before either! I wasn't really sure what had come over me, to be honest. And you being an employee and everything…" he shook his head. "It was all just a big mistake."

Ana blinked in surprise. An employee? This was news to her. "Do you work for Marco or something?"

Christian frowned at her, looking confused. "What?"

"At GEH. I'd assumed you worked there, but I figured it was in some other part of the building."

Christian continued to look at her strangely before one side of his mouth slowly began to form a smile. He let out an incredulous chuckle before glancing down at his shoes, shaking his head slightly, before looking up at her again. He seemed highly amused about something. "I'm, uh…" he paused before gesturing to himself, a smile still playing on his lips. "I'm Christian Grey."

Ana stared at him for a moment before the penny finally dropped. "Wait, you're…?" she blinked, gaping at him. " _You're_ Mr. Grey?"

Christian nodded, still looking amused. Ana's breath seemed to freeze in her lungs, and her brain spun around with the mortifying realization:

 _He's the CEO!_

"Oh my God, I – I thought you were… oh my God!" Ana managed to gasp out after a moment, her hand flying to her mouth. She turned and stepped away from him in a desperate bid to escape her mortification, and tried to hide her crimson face. "This is so embarrassing!"

Christian was laughing. "Ana, it's okay! Really, I'm not mad… quite the opposite, in fact."

"But you're my boss!" Ana turned back to face him, her eyes wide. "You're my boss, and I kissed you! Oh my God, I could've been fired. Or – or suspended…!"

"Ana," Christian moved forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, effectively silencing her panicked ramblings. "It's okay, really. You're not going to get fired. I'm the one who kissed you, remember? If anyone's to blame, it's me." He let go of her, and Ana could only stare at him with wide eyes. "If you wanted to file a sexual harassment charge against me, you could," he added, obvious humor in his voice, and Ana couldn't help but let out a small giggle. Her fear and embarrassment were beginning to recede.

"Sexual harassment charges?" Ana repeated, a smile creeping onto her face. "Do you say that to all the female employees you make out with in elevators?"

"Only the pretty ones," Christian replied smoothly, his eyes glinting, and Ana felt her heart catch a little. His smile was soon replaced by a more serious look, however. "But I already told you that I had never done anything like that before. With anyone. I generally try to maintain a sense of control over myself at all times, but when I see you, I just…" He paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, as if trying to keep some kind of hold on his aforementioned control. He opened his eyes and looked at her again, his resolve written all over his face. "It's a personal rule for me not to become involved with an employee, and so I feel that proceeding from this point is going to be a bit… awkward."

Ana nodded again, melancholy once again clenching at her heart. She knew what he was trying to say. "I understand, and it's okay. I haven't told anyone what happened, and I don't anticipate anything else happening between us from here on out." She tried to keep the sadness out of her voice, but she knew there was nothing else that could be done.

Christian nodded, a look of relief on his face, but some other emotion flitting across his features as well. Was it sadness?

"Sir."

The man called Taylor had entered the store, and he strode up to Christian. "Sir, Ros needs you back for the TDM meeting."

"Yes, alright," Christian nodded at him, and Taylor turned and walked back to the car. Christian glanced at his watch before turning back to Ana. "I have to go now, Ana. Have a good rest of your day, and enjoy your book." He smiled kindly at her before turning to leave, and Ana felt her heart jump in her throat.

 _Wait – he's leaving? Just like that?_

"Wait!" Ana blurted out, and Christian stopped, turning to look quizzically at her. Ana took a step toward him, feeling rather bold. "I might never get to see you again, so before you leave I think… well, I think it's appropriate that I say thank you."

Christian blinked at her, looking a bit confused. "For what?"

"For saving my job," Ana explained. "After the whole Jack Hyde incident, I was going to quit. Everyone was. We all thought the company was going under and we were all pretty much screwed, but then your guys came in and fixed everything. Those of us who stuck around got promotions and huge bonus checks, so I was able to replace my old, broken-down car and pay off most of my student loans." Ana smiled up at him, her eyes conveying her earnest sincerity. "On behalf of everyone at SIP – thank you."

Christian looked shocked at her kind words. He stared at her for a moment before a small smile played on his lips, and Ana could swear he was blushing a little. "You're very welcome," he said quietly, his eyes bright, and Ana glowed.

* * *

~Christian~

 _She thanked him._ Christian walked dazedly out of Finn's Corner and headed toward the black Audi, his mind still reeling with Ana's words. She fucking thanked him for SIP! That was the last thing he expected to hear from her after he had decided this morning to track her down and confront her about their kiss. He had been resolved on forgetting about her, to get one last moment with his blue-eyed angel before officially saying goodbye forever…

But then she had to go off and say something that made her even more goddamn perfect.

 _Fuck_

"Man I'm in trouble," Christian mumbled to Taylor without thinking, and Taylor thankfully only responded with a grimace.

"Sir, Ros is waiting."

Christian sighed before stepping into the backseat of the black Audi, his mind far, far away from the world of mergers and acquisitions.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Please let me know what you think of this chapter:)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Over 100 followers?! You guys spoil me:)**

 **Tons of love to all of you who have reviewed/favorited/followed this story so far! I truly appreciate all the love and support from you guys!**

* * *

Wednesday, 9:00 pm

Susannah's apartment

~Susannah~

A free weekend… Susannah needed to process exactly what that meant to her. While she knew that not getting a weekend full of no-strings-attached, kinky sex should have left her severely disappointed, it actually didn't – she was well and truly excited to have a few days to herself. Susannah thought of all the possibilities… she could go to the mall and window shop all day, then go to the movie theater on 12th street and see that new DiCaprio flick that had come out. And afterwards, she could head out to Gino's with her Pilates buddies and have a few drinks…

She could act like a normal, unattached 24-year-old woman for a few days and not someone's contractually-signed sex slave. The thought was kind of nice.

Susannah had told Ana and Claire about being free this weekend, and of course, they immediately began to make plans for the three of them to hang out. Claire had been planning to spend the weekend with her boyfriend Cole, however, and Ana already had plans to go somewhere on Saturday with her friends Kate and Ethan, but the three of them had agreed to go out for drinks right after work on Friday. Susannah couldn't help smiling to herself when their plan was finally set – she was excited to finally be spending time with her friends on a Friday night. It felt so normal.

When Susannah got home that night, and after she had prepared herself a small dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, she decided to call her brother Ben. She hadn't spoken to him in a while, and the fact that she had been using his recent divorce as the excuse to her friends for her absences every weekend had left her feeling a bit guilty for not talking to him sooner. She settled into her couch with her food and a glass of wine before she dialed him. The phone rang twice before he picked up:

"Ben Richardson's phone, how may I help you?" he answered like a formal secretary, and Susannah snickered. He always said stuff like this whenever she called, in hopes of throwing her off.

"Hi Benny."

"I'm sorry Miss, but I think you have the wrong number."

"Cut the crap, dork. I know your area code."

Ben laughed, and Susannah joined in. She and her brother were always such goofballs when they talked together.

"How you been, Susie?" He asked after he finished laughing, sounding more like himself. "Still working at the bookstore?"

"It's a publishing company. And yes," Susannah grinned. "How's the dungeon?"

"For the millionth time, my restaurant is _not_ a dungeon."

"It's in a basement."

"It's the first floor of a split-level complex," Ben insisted, and Susannah snickered at how easily she could rile him. "It's trendy, okay?"

"Whatever, Grandpa," Susannah rolled her eyes, smirking. "Business is good, then?"

"As good as to be expected. Alicia decided last week to resign from her position, so I gotta start looking for a new number two. Until then, I've got a few shift managers and supervisors to oversee things, but because of that I'm a bit short-staffed. People have quit, so some of my cooks have had to put in overtime as servers."

"Oh," Susannah said, unsure of what else to say. Alicia was Ben's ex-wife, and the two of them had started a small, hometown restaurant together in Spokane. Their recent divorce had proven to be difficult, however, for personal and financial reasons, and Susannah suspected Ben was going through some difficult times right now.

"Is that the 'sorry' voice I hear?" Ben chastised teasingly, and Susannah grinned slightly.

"Maybe. I just wish I could help, that's all." she admitted. "How've you been holding up?"

Ben was silent for a moment before he sighed. "Well, you know… it's been a bit of a struggle lately. But it'll get better – it always does."

"Yeah," Susannah mumbled, gazing into her empty wine glass. Sometimes she wondered when she would know what 'better' felt like.

"So what about you? What've you been up to?"

"Well, I've been working mostly. I've got some new authors to work with now, so that's pretty cool. This weekend is my first weekend in a while that I'm free, so I'm thinking I'll just hang out with friends and run some errands I've been putting off. And call you, of course."

"Of course… well, I'm honored to have earned a spot in your schedule," Ben laughed. "So tell me, what have you been doing every weekend that's keeping you so busy?"

Susannah hesitated, not entirely sure what to tell him. Ben already knew a little bit about her predilections, so to speak, and she knew he wasn't totally thrilled about it. He didn't really understand the lifestyle, and unfortunately, Susannah's silence seemed to confirm his worst suspicions.

"Oh…" he muttered after a moment, understanding. "You, uh… you've signed a contract with someone, haven't you?"

"…Yeah," Susannah mumbled, a blush creeping up her face. She really didn't want to talk to her brother about her sex life.

"Hmph…" Ben grunted, noticeably colder. "And this guy, is he… dominant, or whatever?"

"He is a Dominant, yes," Susannah muttered, frowning uncomfortably. Why would he even care?

Ben was silent for a few seconds, and Susannah could sense his displeasure.

"Ben…" she began quietly, hoping to placate, but he interrupted:

"Shit, Susie – I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. I mean, how on earth can you like that sort of stuff? How can anyone? It's all pain and humiliation!"

"Ben!" Susannah said his name again more forcefully. "Just drop it, okay?"

"I can't just drop it," he insisted. "This… scene… is a big part of your life, and the more I learn about it, the more horrified I am! You know I want you to be happy, Sus, but how can you be if all your free time is being taken up by some deviant with a whip and leather collar?"

"It's not!" Susannah maintained, growing frustrated. "And you shouldn't talk about things you don't understand! I've never been collared before, that's not how this stuff even works…"

"How am I supposed to know how any of this works? How can you expect me to be okay with the fact that my baby sister is getting beaten on by some dude on a weekly basis?"

Susannah closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose. This was not at all the direction she wanted this conversation to go in, and she desperately wished he would just stop talking about it. "Ben, I don't expect you to understand," she said carefully, a quiet resolve in her voice. "But I need it."

"Yeah? Well, I need my sister to be happy," Ben said firmly. "Especially when I know she's not."

Susannah said nothing to that. She wanted to tell him that he didn't know anything, that she was perfectly fine with her choices, and that she really was happy. But she couldn't… she loved her brother, and she didn't want to lie to him.

"I love you, Susie, and I'm sorry I can't understand this lifestyle of yours," Ben continued, his voice more calm. "Really, I am. But one thing I do know is that you haven't been happy in years, and whatever coping mechanisms you've acquired, however effective you think they are, isn't going to change that. Whatever _lifestyle_ this is, it's doing nothing but keeping you from being the amazing person I already know you are."

Susannah still said nothing; her lip trembled, and a tear or two slipped down her cheeks. Ben had never been this candid with her before, and the sincerity with which he spoke made all of her emotional barriers come crumbling down. She sniffed audibly.

"Susie…" Ben whispered, tender concern in his voice.

"Ben, I have to go," Susannah muttered thickly. "I'll, um… I'll talk to you later."

She ended the call before Ben could say anything else. Still trying to force back the tears, Susannah wiped at her eyes with the heel of her palm before gathering her empty dishes and taking them to the kitchen sink.

Calling her brother had been a mistake… she knew he knew about her lifestyle, and she should have realized he would put two and two together about what she did on the weekends. How could she have been so stupid?

Coping mechanism… he had called her lifestyle a coping mechanism. Susannah tossed her dirty dishes in the sink, scowling to herself. He didn't say it outright, but she knew he was referring to when their dad died when they were younger – she had been twelve years old when it happened, so why on earth would she still need coping mechanisms to help her deal with his death? That was years ago, and Susannah had taken pretty good care of herself since then, considering the circumstances. Her mother had all but checked out emotionally, and Ben had been an angsty, self-involved sixteen-year-old at the time, so Susannah had no choice but to take care of herself. Since the age of twelve she had fed herself, clothed herself, bathed herself, and gotten herself to school every day. She had learned how to become completely independent, and was able to handle all the difficult responsibilities that came with life all by herself…

That was why she found submission so satisfying. It was a liberating, cathartic experience, to completely submit to somebody… she didn't have to think or worry or be afraid of anything, not when someone was taking care of her, body and soul. It made her relax. It freed her from the crushing weight of responsibility she had felt since she was a kid… Ben just couldn't understand that.

Susannah glanced at the clock above the stove – it was almost ten o'clock. She sighed; while she would have very much liked to grab another glass of wine and watch a little Netflix before bed, she knew she still had to prepare for her meeting tomorrow with the new author Mr. Kenna. Feeling rather miserable, Susannah walked back to the living room, where her laptop was sitting open on the coffee table with the rest of her work things.

Her laptop was old. She'd had it since she was a freshman in college, and she knew she needed to buy a new one before this one crapped out on her. She idly wondered if Sir would ever consider buying one of those new Macbook Pros for her, but as soon as the thought entered her head, she felt sick. God, what was wrong with her? How could she even think something like that? She wasn't some gold-digging tramp, for crying out loud…

Susannah sat herself down on the couch in front of her computer, staring glumly at the screen. As much as she enjoyed them, she had never asked for any of the gifts given to her from Master Grey. She never dared – she was his submissive, after all, and had no right to ask him for anything. But at the same time, she couldn't deny how much she enjoyed all the gifts he had given to her so far. The beautiful jewelry and the designer clothes and the toys… and the Audi A3, of course. Yes, the car was definitely a bonus…

Susannah realized in that moment that the gifts she got were pretty much the best part of her contract with Sir, and since she had never considered herself a materialistic person, that idea depressed the hell out of her. If all these superficial things made her so happy, exactly what kind of pleasure was she getting out of her submission?

Susannah didn't know – all she did know at the moment was that the happiest she had felt in weeks was at the prospect of _not_ spending a weekend having sex with Christian Grey.

Something must seriously be wrong with her.

* * *

~Ana~

Ana's cell phone chimed with an incoming call, and she hurried into her kitchen where it sat charging on the counter. She grinned when she noticed the caller id.

"Hi Kate," she answered brightly.

"Hey, Ana! You excited for Saturday?" Kate bubbled happily, cutting right to the chase, and Ana couldn't help but giggle at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I s'pose so. What's the plan for that day anyway?" Kate and the whole Kavanagh family had been invited to some charity event in Seattle on Saturday, and Kate insisted Ana come along as her brother's date. The date would be strictly platonic, of course, since Ethan was just a good friend; also, considering the fact he had a fiancee back in Portland, Ana doubted very much anything would be misconstrued. Kate just wanted to have a fun night out with her family and best friend, so who was she to refuse?

"Well, I was thinking the dress-fitting we could fit in tomorrow at around six…" Kate began, but Ana interrupted her:

"Wait, a dress-fitting? I thought you said this was just a summer party." Ana had been planning on wearing a simple white halter dress she had in her closet. It was nice ensemble, and it wasn't too fancy.

"It's a summer charity event," Kate elaborated. "It's being held by the upper-class socialites of Seattle, and it's totally black-tie. We're talking tuxedos, fancy evening gowns, champagne flutes… the works."

A sinking feeling of disappointment gripped Ana's stomach. This whole charity event may not have been a good idea. "Kate, I can't afford to buy a new dress, especially one for an event like this…"

"Don't worry about it," Kate said quickly. "My mom's covering everything."

"She's buying the dresses?" Ana thought that was awfully generous of Mrs. Kavanagh.

"She's buying the dresses, jewelry, hair treatments, make-up… everything," Kate summed up, and Ana gasped.

"Seriously? That's got to be over a thousand dollars! I couldn't ask her to do all that for me…!"

"For _us_ , Ana. And please, don't worry about it – my mom's happy to do all of this. Trust me, we can afford it." Kate brushed off the expenses like they were nothing, but Ana still was feeling pretty uncomfortable.

"I don't really feel comfortable with this, Kate…" Ana frowned hesitantly, biting her lip.

"Relax, Ana, it'll be fine. Would it make you feel better to know that we're only renting the dresses?" Kate was making fun of her, Ana knew, but it did sort of make her feel better.

"…A little," Ana conceded with a hint of a smile, and Kate laughed.

"'Atta girl, Steele! Now, can we talk about our game plan for that day, or do I need to talk you into it a little more?"

Ana let out a resigned sigh before finally agreeing, "Ok, what's the plan?"

She sincerely hoped this whole Coping Together charity event was worth all the money being spent on it. This one evening was probably going to end up getting pretty expensive.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry most of this chapter was Susannah-centric. I know a lot of you are naturally inclined not to like her, but she does play an important role in this story. Try to keep an open mind:)**

 **I hope you all liked this chapter regardless, and if you did, please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: We're jumping ahead to the Saturday night charity event. Hope you guys like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Saturday, 8:46 pm

Coping Together Charity Event

Grey Estate

~Christian~

* * *

"You gotta get a leg up on this whole watershed restoration, Grey. Freshwater environmentalism is becoming a hugely profitable niche market, and some of the Midwest coalitions are doing a great job of cleaning up the problem areas."

"Sounds interesting, Lennox," Christian said, taking a small sip of his scotch and water. "But I don't see how handing out grants to every environmental organization around is going to end up being 'hugely profitable' for me."

The other man laughed. "A good point, but we both know profit can come in many ways, shapes and forms."

Christian simply smiled and raised his glass in acknowledgement. The Coping Together charity event was well underway – dinner had ended, and over a hundred guests wearing their finest eveningwear were now milling around the marquee set up in the Grey family's backyard, waiting for the silent auction and dance to begin. The hum of everybody chatting together filled the vast area; twinkling lights and soft music surrounded everyone, and the twilit moon reflected across the sound gave the evening a particularly magical feel to it.

Christian was having none of it, though. He went to Coping Together every year to please Grace, since the foundation was so close to her heart, but he could never really get much into it. Every year, he would find himself mostly just talking business with some of his work colleagues who happened to be there; Charles Lennox, the COO of Lennox Prime Holdings, was a decent businessman in his own right, but hardly an ideal choice to talk grant proposals with. Christian had only struck up a conversation with him to avoid being chatted up by the redhead in the green chemise by the bar. She was wearing way too much lipstick, and even as Christian talked with Lennox, he saw her lingering several yards away, blinking big bedroom eyes at him as she sipped her Cosmo. Just the sight of her overt flirtation made Christian gag.

"You mentioned Eamon Kavanagh was coming tonight?" Lennox glanced around the marquee. "Don't suppose he would mind letting me talk to him about that DataCorps investment report? That shit's gotten out of hand."

"He'll be here with his family, so I'm guessing he wouldn't mind talking extensively about investment portfolios with you."

Lennox chuckled. "No, I bet he wouldn't. But a bachelor like yourself, Grey, shouldn't comment about the wonderful woes of having a wife and kids at home." He shook his head. "Speaking as a former family man myself, those things do have a habit of changing you. Once you have both, it's gonna be either family or work that takes a backseat. It can be a real struggle, you know, maintaining both."

"I'll bear that in mind." Christian lifted his drink to his lips to hide his amused smirk. He, Christian Grey, with a wife and kids? The very idea made him laugh.

"Well, speak of the devil…"

Christian turned and saw Kavanagh himself striding toward them, flanked by his wife and a young blonde woman in a black halter dress Christian remembered was his daughter Katherine.

"Grey – Lennox," Kavanagh greeted jovially once he approached the two men, and shook both their hands. "Great to see you guys again! You've met my wife, Cristine, and my daughter Kate?"

"A pleasure," Lennox smiled, shaking both women's hands. "Is this the whole family, then?"

"Oh, no, our son Ethan is around here somewhere," Cristine Kavanagh explained with a smile. "He and Kate brought along a friend, and he's just showing her around."

"Good evening, Christian," Kate greeted him as the others talked. "Have you seen Elliot around anywhere?"

Her casual demeanor toward him was a bold move, Christian had to hand it to her. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Good evening, Katherine. No, I haven't seen him, but I'm sure he's around here somewhere."

"I'll keep an eye out," Kate smiled sardonically back at him. She took a champagne flute from a passing waiter and glanced around. "Nice night for a party."

 _She's making small talk now?_ "Yeah, I s'pose it is. The rain from this morning managed to clear up in time, thankfully."

"Bet your mom was happy about that."

"You've no idea. Has Elliot introduced you to our mother yet?" Christian hoped the question would throw her off a little, but Kate seemed to be tough as nails.

"He's introducing me tonight, if you must know," she smiled brightly. "And I'm introducing him to mine. We've agreed we're now at that point in our relationship, and we figured tonight was as good a night as any to finally take that step."

"Sounds like a big night for you two. I wish you the best of luck," Christian offered, surprised at his own sincerity.

"Thanks." Kate took a sip of her champagne before suddenly noticing someone behind Christian's shoulder. A huge smile lit up her face as she waved:

"Ethan – Ana! Over here!"

Christian turned to see who she was talking to, and almost dropped his drink from shock:

 _His angel_

There was Miss Steele, standing and staring at him in all her angelic beauty, looking just about as shocked as Christian felt. His heart raced – she was actually here _._ Once again, Anastasia Steele had inadvertently popped back into his life, taking nothing but his breath away.

She looked absolutely stunning. Christian didn't think she could look more beautiful than the other times he had seen her, but he was wrong – the angel who now stood before him was a goddess. Her fitted, ruffled evening dress was a lovely shade of orchid, and it fit her slender body to perfection. The gown was strapless, allowing Christian to feast his eyes on her bare shoulders, the curve of her neck, the dip of her collarbone, and her flawless, alabaster complexion. Her softly-curled hair fell down to her breasts, small swaths of which were pinned up in an elegant half up-do. Her look was simple yet tasteful, and Christian could feel himself getting uncomfortably hard just by just staring at her.

Kate was saying something to him: "…you to meet my brother Ethan, and our friend Ana."

"A pleasure, Mr. Grey." Ethan Kavanagh grinned and held out his hand for Christian to shake, which he did, though his eyes were still trained on the magnificent vision that was Anastasia Steele.

"Miss Steele," Christian stepped forward once Ethan released his hand. He gazed down at her, smiling warmly. "It's very nice to see you again."

"You too, Mr. Grey," Ana said quietly, blushing profusely. She brought her hand up, and Christian took it, feeling tingles shoot up his arm when they touched; he couldn't resist lightly running his thumb over her fingers as he stared deep into her eyes. He didn't notice how close together they were standing or how long they had been looking at each other until Kate cleared her throat.

"So, uh… you guys know each other then?" Kate was watching them with raised eyebrows while Ethan suppressed a smirk.

"Um… sort of," Ana muttered, looking embarrassed as she finally let go of Christian's hand and glanced away.

"My company bought out Seattle Independent Publishing a few months ago," Christian explained, composing himself slightly. "Their acquisitions editor brought along Ana to a corporate meeting at GEH a few days ago, and that's where we met."

"Sounds interesting. I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about..." Kate quickly grabbed Ethan's arm and tugged at him to follow her away into the crowd. "C'mon, Ethan… I want you to meet Elliot before Mom and Dad do."

"Ow! Fine, but let go of me – I know how to walk, Kate."

The two of them disappeared into the crowd without even saying goodbye, leaving Christian in the company of his angel. Ana had watched her friend leave before looking back at Christian, a shy smile on her beautiful lips.

"Hi."

Christian couldn't resist the wide grin spreading across his face as he gazed down at her. God, she really was gorgeous. "Hi again."

She let out a small giggle, causing Christian's breath to hitch slightly. "This always seems to happen to us, doesn't it? Why do we constantly run into each other like this?"

"I'm not sure, but I have to say that tonight is my favorite accidental meeting of ours." Christian smiled, allowing his eyes to rove over her entire body before landing back on her face. "You look beautiful tonight, Ana."

"Thank you," Ana blushed again and smiled sweetly at him. "And you look very handsome yourself, Mr. Grey."

"That's Christian to you," he said with a wink, and her blush gave him way too much satisfaction. He gestured toward the bar. "Would you like a drink?"

"Sure," Ana smiled and bit her lip. "Lead the way."

The two of them turned and headed off through the crowd together, smiling at each other like no one else in the world existed. The redhead in the green chemise rushed away toward the ladies room, pouting indignantly while garnering sympathy from no one but herself.

* * *

~Kate~

"Come on, Ethan – we have to find Elliot!"

"Ouch! What's the big hurry, anyway?" Ethan tried fruitlessly to pry his arm out of his sister's vice-like grip.

"You _know_ why," Kate stopped in her tracks and turned to gaze eagerly at her brother, eyes gleaming. "You saw it as well as I did! We need to tell Elliot."

"Tell me what?" A good-looking blonde guy wearing a tux walked up to them, grinning happily at Kate. "Hi baby."

"Elliot! Oh my God, am I glad to see you," Kate let go of her brother's arm to hug her boyfriend hello. "This is my brother, Ethan."

"Nice to meet you, man," Elliot turned to smile at Ethan, reaching out to shake his hand.

"You too, Elliot. Though I believe my sister wants to tell you something."

"Oh?" Elliot smiled inquisitively at Kate, whose face split into a giant, all-knowing grin. "What is it?"

"Well..." Kate hooked her arm through Elliot's. "You know my friend Ana?" He nodded, clearly confused, and she turned them so they were both facing the bar, which was about twenty yards away.

"...Apparently, your brother knows her too."

Elliot looked toward where Kate was indicating, and his eyes widened in shock when he spotted them: Christian and Ana were at the bar under the canopy, standing close together and chatting with one another. Ana was sipping a glass of white wine and listening intently to whatever Christian was saying to her; he looked happy and relaxed as he spoke, obviously recounting something very amusing to her. Ana burst out laughing, causing Christian to laugh too, his eyes dancing with affection as he gazed down at her. The two of them were clearly enraptured by each other.

Elliot was floored. "No way," he said after a moment, his eyes so wide they seemed to bug out of his head.

Kate giggled. "Yes way."

"This has to be a joke."

"It's not. They saw each other and I swear I saw literal sparks."

Elliot shook his head and grinned in disbelief. "Holy shit," he murmured, sounding utterly bemused.

"What's the big deal, guys?" Ethan obviously didn't understand what was going on. "Grey likes Ana… so what?"

"Jeez Ethan, you and Lonna have been out of Seattle for too long!" Kate turned exasperatedly to her brother. "That's _Christian Grey_. The famous, young billionaire renowned for never being seen in public with a woman."

"It's true," Elliot confirmed to Ethan. "He's never had a girlfriend before. Till now I've never even seen him be interested in a girl."

"Seriously?" Ethan glanced disbelievingly over at Christian. "A guy who looks like _that_ can't get a girlfriend?"

"Not so much 'can't' as 'won't'," Elliot explained. "My brother's sort of a weird guy… he likes to keep to himself, and as a kid I remember he got into all kinds of trouble. A lot of emotional issues, y'know."

"Oh, look!" Kate suddenly pointed, and the two guys stopped to watch. The dance floor had opened up, and Christian and Ana began to make their way to the floor with the other couples. They held hands while trying to hide their giddy smiles.

"Oh, they're so cute together," Kate grinned widely, pressing a hand to her heart as she watched them eagerly.

"Who'd have thought? Christian Grey and our Ana…" Ethan shook his head, unable to contain his own smile. "Does this mean I've lost my date for tonight?"

Kate silenced him by smacking him on the chest, her eyes never leaving the couple. Kate always knew her best friend was something special, but she never expected anything like this to happen to her. Christian Grey: the proud, arrogant, rich bastard who was untouchable by the rest of the world falling for the simple charm of Miss Anastasia Rose Steele. It was like something out of a fairytale, or one of Ana's favorite classic novels.

Kate had to try to marshal her thoughts, however. This may not be what it seemed, after all, and Christian and Ana may not even like each other in that way. She really mustn't get ahead of herself…

Kate watched as Christian and Ana glided together across the dance floor, grinning happily at one another, and couldn't help but allow her mind to drift to all the possibilities…

She smiled. No, not ahead of herself at all.

* * *

 **A/N: How do you think the rest of the evening is going to turn out for Christian and Ana? Leave a review and let me know!:)**

 **Ana's dress is the Badgley Mischka orchid strapless ruffled evening dress, in case you guys wanted to know.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: All the speculation – I love it! One or more of you actually got pretty close to what's going to happen;)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Saturday, 11:43 pm

Coping Together Charity Event

Grey Estate

~Christian~

This night was like a dream. Christian had never been one to romanticize things like the night or stars or the moon reflected over the sound, but he couldn't deny just how amazing everything looked tonight. The sky was a beautiful navy blue, dark and deep as the ocean's depths, and on the other side of the sound, fir trees stood in a cluster, swaying slightly in a gentle breeze, as the moon shone above them in a glowing crescent…

And then there was Anastasia.

Christian had never been so fascinated by someone in his entire life. This night with her – whether they were on the dance floor, making small talk over drinks, or even mingling with the other guests – it was all just so perfect. She looked stunning, with her eyes sparkling with joy, her smile shining perfection, and her dress accentuating her perfect figure. God, she practically glowed with ethereal beauty, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Worried thoughts about how the night would end and what would happen the next day were immediately pushed aside. Christian wanted to enjoy tonight for what it was – perfection. He didn't want to think about tomorrow… or, more specifically, next Saturday.

Christian now stood alone at the bar, gazing idly around at the thinning crowd of guests. It was getting pretty late, and he had just suffered a forty minute talk about financial requisites with some stuffy old businessmen; Christian had managed to get away, however, before their talk about cost-effective mergers began. Now he was nursing his third scotch of the evening and gazing at the lovely Anastasia across the marquee. He had taken every opportunity he could to spend time with her this evening, but he didn't want to seem like he was suffocating her with his presence. He now watched her as she stood and chatted with Kate and Eamon Kavanagh, laughing at something Kate had said to her. It was captivating.

"Hi."

Christian blinked and glanced over, noticing Ethan Kavanagh sidle up next to him. "Hi."

"Guinness, please," Ethan told the bartender behind the counter before turning back to Christian. "Having a good night?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." Christian smirked slightly. "And yourself?"

"Can't complain. I have to drive back to Portland in the morning, though, so I'm kinda hoping for a nightcap pretty soon." He thanked the bartender before taking a swig of the beer that was handed to him. He glanced over at where Christian was looking.

"So you know Ana, huh?"

"Hm?" Christian tore his eyes away from her. "Oh, um… yeah."

"You said you guys met at Grey House?"

"Yep." Christian tried to ignore the hot flush he felt when thinking about their encounter in the elevator. He opted to bend the truth a little: "It was by a total coincidence we met, actually. We bumped into each other in the hallway and she… well, she ended up thanking me for saving her job at Seattle Independent Publishing. I didn't think I had done that much, but it was very sweet of her to say."

Ethan chuckled. "Yeah, that definitely sounds like Ana. 'Sweet' could be her middle name – she's always so damn chipper about everything. It's adorable, and she's been like that ever since she and my sister were roommates at WSU."

Christian said nothing, but his brow had furrowed slightly. Jealousy pounded through his bloodstream with a sudden force – of course, Ethan Kavanagh was her boyfriend. Why didn't he realize it sooner?

"…Makes me wonder how she doesn't have a boyfriend yet," Ethan continued, taking another sip of his beer.

Christian frowned, his jealousy dissipating. "Oh, I thought you two were… you know…"

"Together? Oh, no," Ethan laughed, and Christian felt relieved. "Well, technically she's my date tonight, but it's only because my fiancée Lonna is back home in Portland. I'm only here for a couple days on business, and Ana's a family friend."

"I see." Christian couldn't fight the smile threatening to break across his face. "When's the wedding?"

"June, next year."

"Mazel tov."

"Thanks," Ethan grinned, and the two of them drank to his approaching nuptials. After a moment of companionable silence, Christian spoke up again, his eyes focused back on her.

"So Ana… she really doesn't have a boyfriend?"

Ethan shook his head, leaning back against the bar. "No, not as far as I'm aware. She didn't even date at all through college, according to Kate."

Christian raised his eyebrows. "Really? That's surprising."

"Yeah, I know. She was a real studious, bookish type – all straight A's through school, 4.0 GPA, made the Dean's List. And Kate says when Ana's not working, she spends most of her free time reading books or watching period dramas. All a bunch of girly, nerdy crap, y'know?"

Christian continued to gaze at Ana across the marquee. An odd, uncomfortable feeling gripped his stomach as he stared at her. "So she's a romantic?"

"Totally. She's very sweet, don't get me wrong, but she's probably waiting for some Prince Charming or other to come sweep her off her feet someday…" Ethan grimaced, shaking his head as he brought his beer to his lips. He didn't comment on Ana's over-idealistic view of love, but Christian heard him loud and clear. A pit suddenly grew in his stomach, and he set his unfinished scotch back on the bar.

"'Scuse me…" he said, not exactly sure where he was going. All he needed now was to get away and take a moment to gather his thoughts. He opted to head out alone toward the boathouse, away from the rest of the party.

Ana was a romantic – a pure, sweet innocent soul uncorrupted by the fucked-up shit that pervaded his own life. Christian doubted very much that Ana had ever even heard of BDSM, much less thought about participating in it – why would he want to involve her in that? And even if, by some miracle, he didn't need BDSM, how could he ever justify all that shit he went through as a young child? No one needed to be exposed to that.

Christian sighed; he felt like a completely different man when he was with Ana. It wasn't just the sexual attraction between them, though that definitely played a big part, but tonight he realized he just enjoyed spending time with her. Talking, dancing, and laughing with her this evening had touched him in a way he had never felt before; when he was around her his head felt lighter, his thoughts evaporated before they could become words, and his heart seemed to catch in his chest every time she smiled.

 _His heart…_ he didn't have a heart, though. He didn't act all love-struck and moon-eyed over a girl. It just wasn't him – the smitten man he acted like around Ana was just a smokescreen; a façade to lull her into a false sense of attachment. He was Christian Grey: Dominant, CEO, and grade-A asshole.

Ana was an ideal girl, the total package… she deserved a guy who shared her optimistic view of love and humanity, and not some sexual deviant who liked to tie up and beat obedient women for his pleasure.

Christian had wandered over alone toward the boathouse, gazing over the water while lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even hear someone approaching from behind him.

"Hi."

He turned around and his proverbial heart seemed to swell. Ana stood there, looking radiant as ever while the dim moonlight bathed her in a muted glow. She was gazing at him, happy to have found him, but also slightly confused. "What are you doing over here?"

"Just admiring the view," Christian glanced out toward the sound again, watching as the surface of the water rippled in a light breeze. He turned back to Ana, who was gazing up at him and biting her lip.

"You enjoying the party?"

She blinked, as if coming out of a reverie. "What? Oh, yeah! I mean, I _was_ enjoying it… the Kavanaghs want to head home now, so I think I'm going to call it a night too." She bit her lip. "I thought I'd find you and say goodnight before heading out."

"Oh," Christian said quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets and feeling his heart rate spike. "So…" he said after a moment, and chuckled to himself. Ana giggled.

"So…"

"I had a really good time with you tonight," he said sincerely, and Ana smiled. Christian had an overwhelming urge to kiss her again, but managed to control himself this time.

"Me too. I mean, I didn't think I was going to have a very good time tonight, seeing as how I don't normally go to events like this…" she stammered, and even in the dark, Christian could swear he saw her blush. "But with you, it all just felt so… special."

She hesitated a moment before she met his eyes again, and Christian stared back at her. Something in his chest stirred, and worried thoughts of Ana being an idealistic romantic and him being a fucked-up deviant who didn't deserve her were buried deep down inside where he couldn't find them. He didn't deserve a girl like her, and she probably deserved a guy better than him, but at this moment he didn't care. Christian didn't consider himself a good man, and he hardly understood these feelings Ana invoked in him that sent his mind into a tailspin…

All Christian knew at the moment was that he was a selfish man who got what he wanted, when he wanted.

And he wanted Anastasia Steele.

"I'm glad you had a good time," Christian said quietly, smiling at her. "My parents do know how to throw a good party."

 _Say you'll be mine..._

"I'll say," Ana grinned. "Could you thank them for me? I would like to do it myself, but I didn't get the chance to introduce myself, they were so caught up with meeting Kate and the other Kavanaghs tonight."

 _Oh baby, the things I want to do to you..._

"Of course I will," Christian said, and paused a moment, hesitating. "If you'd still like to meet the rest of my family, my parents are going to be hosting a mid-week family dinner on Wednesday. It'll be for my sister Mia, who's coming home from Europe on Tuesday. I believe Elliot is bringing Kate… would you like to join us?"

 _Please say yes. I am so not finished with you yet, Miss Steele..._

Ana beamed, and Christian felt his heart jump in his throat. "I'd love to come! I mean, as long as I'm not intruding…"

"Of course not," Christian assured her, smiling too. "I know my family would love to get to know you better."

 _As would I..._

Ana looked embarrassed but pleased. "Okay. I'd love to know them too," she said shyly, and Christian grinned. He was sure his parents would be excited to meet her, especially if she was introduced to them as his special friend.

 _Special indeed..._

As Christian and Ana made their way across the lawn back to the marquee together, Christian thought about what his parents would think of Ana. They would probably assume she was his girlfriend, which he was okay with for the time being. Ana wasn't his submissive as of yet, but hopefully, after Wednesday, he would know for sure if she was sub material. With time, she could become everything Christian was looking for in a woman. It would be a challenge, and would take a lot hard work on his part, but if he was going to have her the way he wanted by the end, it would all be worth it.

Her romantic idealizations of Prince Charming would be gone forever, but she would gain a greater knowledge of her sexuality and soft limits, which was exactly what he wanted...

Christian smiled to himself - he was Christian Trevelyan Grey, and he always got what he wanted.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the late update guys – college and work and life have a habit of getting in the way a lot of the time. I'll do my best, but some updates probably aren't going to come out in a timely fashion. I do apologize, and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can!**

 **So Christian wants Ana as his submissive… how do you think that will turn out? Please review and let me know!**

 **Next chapter – secrets will be revealed! But for whom, exactly? Stay tuned!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I truly appreciate all of them:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Sunday, 9:15 am

~Tony~

He had gone for a run that morning. Six miles along the Puget Sound, watching the sunrise crest over the water as his feet pounded the pavement… Tony rarely got days like this to himself, and he was going to treasure it. He had woken up early to have a nice, protein-packed breakfast, and now was going for a brisk, early-morning run. Exercise was his escape, and that's why he deliberately left his cell phone at home. He didn't want anything to ruin his day… like a certain phone call from a certain family member asking for a favor.

Sure enough, when he got back to his apartment about an hour later, there was the dreaded voicemail from his sister waiting for him. His good mood quickly plummeted as he listened to it – their dad was ill again, and she needed him to come into the store ASAP so he could cover her day shift while she took care of him. Tony knew his father suffered from severe arthritis in his old age, and needed someone to take care him whenever it flared up. While Tony was sorry his dad was in pain, he couldn't help but be annoyed by the fact he had to work on his day off. He had run the store from open to close almost every day this week, and it was getting to be exhausting. They really needed to hire an employee or something.

Tony showered and dressed in record time before hurrying out the door with his wallet and cell phone in hand. Not bothering with his car, considering the early morning Seattle traffic, he decided to just walk the three blocks to Finn's Corner, striding past slower pedestrians as he hurried along.

"There you are," Mallory greeted her brother as he entered the store. "You didn't call back, I was starting to get worried."

"I didn't get your message right away, I was out for a run," Tony explained, walking behind the counter to clock in. "Seeing as it's supposed to be my day off and everything…"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Mallory said apologetically, distracted as she scribbled something on a clipboard. "But it's kind of an emergency. Our truck isn't coming in till this afternoon, and I gotta stay with Dad until he takes his medication. Hopefully, he'll be good enough by the time the truck comes, so you won't have to stay all day."

"It's fine, sis – go take care of Dad," Tony said. "How's he holding up?"

"Not very well – he hardly slept last night, and he can barely sit upright this morning. Luckily, he's staying in my apartment upstairs, so I don't have to go too far in case there's an emergency down here. I'd just feel more comfortable if you were overseeing things in the store while I'm taking care of him."

"Whatever I can do to help," Tony ignored his apron and grabbed the broom beside the sink.

Mallory smirked at her brother before handing him the clipboard. "Here's the inventory list of the supplies we're getting off the truck today. If it comes and you're busy working with customers, just give me a call and I'll come down and handle it. Sound good?"

"Yup. Something tells me I'm gonna be handling the truck by myself, though, since we never get customers anyway…"

"Watch your attitude, Mr. Finn," Mallory chastised with a laugh. "We already had a customer earlier today, if you must know. She's sitting over by the bay window right now, so try to keep the commiserating comments to yourself until she's gone, okay?"

Tony gave Mallory a mock salute, and she gave him a playful grin before turning and heading toward the backroom, which led to her little apartment above the store. Tony was now left alone to look after things by himself, his day off now about to be spent cleaning, restocking bookshelves, and grinding coffee beans. Oh joy.

For the first twenty minutes or so, Tony kept himself occupied with menial tasks, like sweeping behind the counter, organizing the coffee mugs, and dusting off a couple bookshelves. No customers came, but he had briefly glimpsed the young woman sitting at a table beside the window; her face was hidden by a newspaper, and Tony made no attempt to go interact with her. People who came to places like this alone tended not to want to be bothered, and Tony was all too happy to comply.

A little after ten o'clock, a FedEx truck came with a package for the store – Tony figured by its long, cylindrical shape it was the new decorative poster Mallory had ordered to be put up in the window for pedestrians to see. He opened the package, and, since he really didn't have any other work to do, walked it over to the bay window to set it up. He knew the woman was still sitting nearby, and it would be a little awkward to work in such close proximity to her, but maybe she'd take the hint and leave before she started to nest for too long.

Tony rounded the corner to where the bay window was, and stopped in his tracks. The woman had finally set down her newspaper and laid it out flat on the table, so Tony could see her face for the first time… and it was the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. Large eyes framed by long dark lashes met with her flawlessly fair skin, accentuated only by a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, showing off her perfect cheeks and the slender column of her neck. The woman stirred her coffee with a spoon as she read her newspaper, grinning slightly to herself as she brought the mug to her perfect, rose-colored lips and took a sip.

Tony realized he was staring at her. She hadn't noticed him yet, fortunately, and he quickly blinked a couple times to gather his wits. He had never seen her here before… was she from out of town? Whoever she was, Tony knew he wanted to go up and talk to her. Heart pounding from nerves and a variance of other emotions, he made his way over.

"Good morning," he said, thankful that his voice at least didn't betray his anxiety. The beautiful girl looked up at him and smiled, making Tony's heart thud even harder.

"Good morning."

"How is everything? Do you need a refill on your coffee?" he asked, occupying himself by moving over to the bay window with the poster.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm good," she smiled at him again, and Tony nodded before stepping up onto the large windowsill with the rolled-up poster in his hand. Neither of them said anything as he worked in the window, and the beautiful girl went back to reading her newspaper. Once Tony had finished up, he stepped down from the windowsill and turned towards her, hoping to engage her in conversation. He noticed her newspaper was open to the sports section.

"You see the Mariner's game last night?" he asked before he could stop himself. She glanced up at him.

"What? Oh, yeah I did," she said, glancing down at the article near the bottom of her newspaper. "I'm just reading about it now. They lost to the Brewers."

"Yeah, it was brutal. Montero managed to score a run at the top of the ninth, but aside from that, it was all just torture. Hernandez let that one guy get an RBI in the fifth inning, which totally set us back…" Tony rambled about the game, thinking too late that she might not be interested in hearing his sports talk.

"Segura was due for an RBI," the girl argued back. "Hernandez had nothing to do with that. Ryan Braun was also due to hit that homerun in the third inning, and even with Lucroy out for the season, the Brewers are still dominating. Mariners didn't really stand a chance."

Tony could only gape at her – 'shocked' would have been too mild a word to describe what he was feeling at the moment. Not only was this girl absolutely beautiful, but she legitimately loved baseball! Dear God, Tony really needed to get to know her better.

"Are you a Brewers fan or something?" he asked after a moment, noting her defensiveness of the other team. The girl smiled rather guiltily, and it was just about the cutest thing Tony had ever seen.

"Sort of. I'm actually a fan of the Mariners too, since I've been living in Seattle for so long, but I'm originally from Milwaukee. The Brewers are kind of a big deal over there."

"I see." Tony honestly didn't care if she rooted for the worst team in the league, he just wanted to keep talking to her. He was secretly thrilled to learn she lived in Seattle and wasn't just visiting from Milwaukee.

"I usually root for the Mariners, but when its up against my old hometown, Seattle can't really compete," she went on, and Tony moved forward to sit down in the chair opposite her, his attention completely focused on her. He didn't care if another customer came in – he was going to engage this gorgeous girl in conversation for as long as he possibly could.

"Well, I guess it helps that your precious Ryan Braun is hitting homeruns every other inning," Tony pointed out, and she laughed, making him feel about ten feet tall. He was completely captivated by this girl.

"Yeah, I suppose it does," she giggled. "Braun actually has the best batting average of his career right now. He hit two grand slams the other day playing against the Phillies."

"Wow."

"I know, right? But the Mariners are doing pretty well for themselves, too," she said quickly. "Montero did really well last night – he got that run in with two outs at the top of the ninth…"

Tony couldn't help but chuckle. "You don't have to be nice to me. I know the Mariners sucked in that game."

The girl giggled, shaking her head and smiling apologetically. "Sorry. My brother always says I'm too nice, especially about things like baseball. He's obsessed with the Brewers too, and he can't understand how I can root for another team that's not them."

"Well, I have a sister who thinks I'm too annoying when it comes to the Mariners," Tony replied, and the girl laughed. "Want to switch siblings with me?"

"That depends – who's your sister?"

"Her name's Mallory. She's the manager here… she and I help our dad run this place," Tony explained, and the girl's eyes widened.

"Oh, you're Tony Finn?" she asked, and he nodded. "My friend Ana told me about you guys. She comes to this place all the time, apparently, and she recommended I stop by this weekend since I had nothing else going on."

"Oh, Ana sent you?" Tony perked up, remembering that one young woman who came in from time to time. She was nice, but she had nothing on this girl.

"Yeah. I work with her at SIP," she explained, and Tony grinned widely.

"Well, it's always nice to meet a friend of Ana's, Miss…?" Tony held out his hand for her to shake, and the girl smiled, blushing slightly as she took his hand in hers.

"Susannah."

They shook, and Tony was feeling this initially bad day was getting better by the second. "Susannah… it's very nice to meet you."

* * *

~Susannah~

This day was just one pleasant surprise after another, Susannah thought. She had woken up bright and early this morning with the intention of going out to the Pike Market district to walk around and window-shop for a bit before stopping somewhere for lunch. Ana had always talked about this one coffee house she went to on a regular basis, and Susannah decided today was as good a day as any to check it out too. If she thought it made a decent cup of coffee, she would be sure to let Ana know.

Turned out Finn's Corner made amazing lattes, which Susannah was absolutely delighted about. She decided to settle down at a table with her latte and a newspaper, intending to just pass the time doing nothing in particular before she had to going home to get ready for work tomorrow.

She had been sitting there for about an hour before one of the employees at the store, the owner's son Tony Finn, came up and started talking to her. He was very easygoing, and she really enjoyed having a conversation with him. She was really excited when he brought up the Mariners game: Susannah loved baseball, but the only person she could ever talk about it with was her brother. She and Tony chatted about the sport for a while, and she was beginning to feel more and more at ease with him. He was very easy to talk to, and certainly easy on the eyes – she noticed he had this somewhat attractive, all-American boy charm going for him, with his dirty blonde hair and a cute smile. He was wearing a hunter green t-shirt and dark denim jeans that showed off his fit body, and Susannah could feel herself blush a little more whenever he looked at her.

Tony was just telling her something about a particular Mariners game he and his friends went to back in high school when her phone chimed with an incoming text message. Susannah glanced at her phone and saw it was Claire from work; she could feel herself grinning widely as she read over the message.

"…I should get back to work," Tony said after a moment, and Susannah looked up at him. The expression on his face was a bit flat. "You're obviously busy, I don't want to keep you here for too long…"

"What? No, stay!" Susannah insisted, quickly setting down her phone and opening up her newspaper again. "Sorry, that was just my friend Claire who texted me. Apparently, our friend Ana was at a fancy charity event last night, and a picture of her made it in the culture section of the _Seattle Times_ this morning."

"Wow, really?" Tony's expression cleared and he looked happy again.

"Yeah. Claire said she looks amazing," Susannah grinned again. She found the culture section and scanned the various articles and ads for a few seconds before her eyes landed on it.

"Here."

The picture itself was relatively large – it took up almost half of the article block about the Coping Together charity event. Even in black and white, Ana looked radiant in her ruffled evening gown and her half-up-do. The picture was of her dancing with a guy… the guy being none other than Christian Grey.

If this image wasn't enough to completely shock Susannah, it was the expressions on both of their faces – or more specifically _his_ face. Ana was smiling brightly in the way she did when she was ridiculously happy. She was gazing affectionately up into Mr. Grey's eyes, and Mr. Grey was gazing back at her and smiling as if nobody else in the world existed. Susannah had never seen him look at anyone, much less her, with that much adoration. He looked happy, relaxed, and carefree… and, judging by this picture, completely smitten with the woman in his arms. Susannah could do little more than stare.

"Wow, Ana knows Christian Grey?" Tony laughed as he gazed at the picture too. "I can't believe it!"

Susannah pressed her lips together, having a strange urge to laugh at that massive understatement. "Me neither," she muttered.

* * *

 **A/N: So now you've met Tony – what do you think of him? And what's Susannah going to do now that she knows about Christian and Ana? Leave a review and let me know!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Holy cow, guys! The response to last chapter has been incredible! Thank you all so much for your love and support:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Sunday, 1:35 pm

Escala

~Christian~

Christian had woken up a little after six to get a quick run in before eating breakfast and heading into his study to work, feeling more refreshed than he had felt in a very long time. Sipping at his large cup of black coffee, Christian settled himself at his desk, ready to start going through the numerous emails from the Hong Kong sector of GEH pertaining to the Kyoto Tech deal. He and Tadashi had decided together to go ahead with the solar power plant initiative, but a lot still needed to be done to get the whole venture started. The next month or so was going to be pretty hectic, but hopefully all this extra work would be worth it by the end of the quarter.

When Christian opened up his email, however, the first thing he saw was something from Elliot about an article from the _Seattle Times_. Clicking on the attached link, Christian couldn't help but smile as a small article and a picture of him and Anastasia dancing together filled his computer screen.

His heart skipped a beat as he gazed at the photo – Ana was as beautiful as he remembered from last night. He had been thinking about her a lot – more than he figured was probably healthy – and so seeing a gorgeous picture of her was a great start to his morning. The resolve he had made last night to pursue her no doubt contributed to his good mood today: he had slept through the whole night without a single nightmare, and instead dwelt on dreams about beautiful blue eyes and orchid evening gowns. He definitely preferred dreaming about her as opposed to his usual nightmares, and even in his waking hours, his mind wandered to the amazingly beautiful young woman who inadvertently came into his life and took his breath away.

Christian smiled; he thought about the different ways he could go about pursuing Ana. A girl like her would probably want to be romanced, nice and slow… the whole introduction to his BDSM lifestyle would take some time, he knew. He was at least glad he had asked her to come to his parents' house on Wednesday – that was probably step in the right direction if he wanted to get Ana into his bed someday…

 _Wait, his playroom. Not his bed._

Christian blinked, surprised at himself. He had never thought about a woman in his bed before, even by accident. It had always been in his playroom: tied to his four-poster, shackled to the St. Andrews cross, or bent over a red leather bench, blindfolded and begging for release. He tried to imagine Ana in these positions, and conjured up some very pleasing mental images of her… naked and spread out on the cross for his viewing pleasure, bent over a bench with her alabaster ass pink from a flogger, or blindfolded and handcuffed to the four-poster while arching her back and crying out in pleasure…

…Him removing her blindfold so he could gaze into her beautiful blue eyes while he drove into her… her moving long, slender legs up so they wrapped around his waist, drawing him in deeper as he thrust inside of her… him placing feather-light kisses along her collarbone and up her neck… her moaning and writhing in pleasure while her small hands moved up and gripped his hair… him pressing his forehead to hers as he silently came inside of her, and her whispering 'Oh, Christian' as she clenched around him in release…

 _Fuck!_

Where the hell did that fantasy come from? And why was he now harder than a rock because of it? Jesus Christ, he really needed to get his mind off of Ana or else he was going to go the rest of the day dwelling on these strangely erotic thoughts and a continuous hard-on.

With a considerable amount of effort, Christian immersed himself back in his work, answering emails or forwarding them to members of his team accordingly. After about thirty minutes of this, however, his mind couldn't help but drift again, but this time to more unpleasant thoughts… like Susannah.

Shit, yet again he had forgotten about her. Here he was, planning on seducing a woman into BDSM when he was already contractually-bound to another woman within the lifestyle. Susannah had been a great submissive to him, and he had no doubt she would make another Dom out there very satisfied, but Christian knew he needed to end things with her if he wanted this venture with Ana to work out for him.

This weekend – Christian was resolved to end their contract sometime this weekend, and just the thought of him finally breaking ties with Susannah eased a fraction of the guilt he had been experiencing lately about this whole situation. Susannah was a good girl, and she didn't seem overly-attached to Christian in an emotional way… this so-called break-up would probably go more smoothly than any other contract termination he had ever had in the past. If she took the news well enough, he'd probably buy her a top-of-the-line Audi A5 as a thank you – she always did seem to really love her A3.

Christian grinned to himself. Yes, considering the circumstances, he was glad it looked like everything was going to turn out better than he thought…

* * *

~Susannah~

Susannah still had the newspaper clutched in her hand as she left the coffee house about an hour later, after she and Tony had exchanged phone numbers and promised to talk next time there was a Mariner's game. The paper sat on the passenger seat of her car as she made her way home, and it was in her hand again as she exited the car and made her way up the steps to her apartment. She didn't look at it once.

 _Sir and Ana_ … Those words just kept intruding her thoughts, occupying her mind with its alien-ness.

It was such an odd concept to think about, especially for her. Never in a million years did she think her best friend from work would meet her Dominant – it was like a collision of two worlds that was never meant to happen, and Susannah needed time to adjust.

She walked through the front door of her apartment and headed straight to her kitchen island, where she dumped her keys, purse and shopping bags in a large pile. Immediately, she took the newspaper again and opened it up, feverishly seeking out the picture she needed to glimpse one more time in order to verify her sanity.

Once she found it, she laid the paper out flat on the kitchen counter so she could study it properly. The photo was definitely of Ana and Sir, both of them dancing together and looking like a normal, well-dressed couple at a high-class event. On the outside, there was nothing about the photo to raise suspicion… however, Susannah knew deep down it spoke volumes.

She stared at the picture for a long time. Questions about it swirled around her brain like a swarm of bees: how did Sir and Ana know each other? What exactly was going on between them? Did they meet at the charity event, or have they always been friends?

Susannah's stomach dropped when she remembered Sir's standard profile for potential submissives: petite, fair-skinned brunettes were what he was attracted to. Ana fit that profile pretty well… maybe Sir was attracted to Ana? Maybe his relationship with Ana was more than just friends? Maybe he wanted her to be his next––?

Revulsion and horror for her friend washed over Susannah with a sudden force, and she had to quickly push those thoughts away. No, Ana would never be a submissive. She wasn't even a part of the scene – what with the different clubs Susannah frequented in-between contracts, there was no sign at all that anyone a part of her social circle was into BDSM. Besides, Ana just wasn't screwed up emotionally like Susannah was. There was no way a cold, emotionless man like Grey would try to take on a girl like Ana as a submissive.

Susannah's stomach twisted uncomfortably – _she_ was still Master Grey's submissive, after all. While her initial concern was for the safety of her friend, Susannah couldn't help but wonder if Master Grey would ever be unfaithful to her. His contract insisted on monogamy, which Susannah had agreed to comply with without question, but assumed that that stipulation also applied to him. Perhaps he considered himself exempt from that little rule? Susannah felt a wave of anger and indignation sweep over her body: how was it okay for Sir to insist his subs remain faithful to him when _he's_ allowed to go out to parties on weekends and spend time with other beautiful, brown-haired women? That was pretty low, even by his standards.

But, then again… Sir _didn't_ go out to parties on weekends, Susannah knew. He spent his weekends at Escala with his submissive; it was only this week he had asked for a break. Why? Because of this charity event? It seemed just like any other high-class event they threw for the upper crust of West Coast society. Why would Sir go out of his way to go to this one in particular?

Susannah studied the picture a little closer – Sir was gazing down at Ana with an expression of utter happiness and contentment, something Susannah had never seen in all her time with him. An idea niggled at her brain… did Master Grey cancel their weekend because of Ana? Did he have feelings for her that went beyond that of a potential submissive?

"No," Susannah said out loud into her empty apartment. "No, that's impossible."

She _knew_ it was impossible. Master Grey was a cold-hearted bastard – an unyielding, super-aggressive businessman in the office and a ruthless, sex-driven Dominant in the playroom. Romance and emotions were just not in his genetic code. Even she knew that.

Susannah's eyes drifted over to the image of Ana, whose expression was more in line with her personality. Sweetness and joy emanated off her as she gazed up at the man in her arms, and Susannah couldn't help but smile slightly – there was definitely affection in her expression. Susannah could totally see Ana falling for a guy like Mr. Grey, even if she didn't know who he was behind closed doors.

Her smile quickly faded – poor Ana. It was very possible she had already fallen for Sir, as many women had before her. Susannah ought to warn her, put her on her guard... she needed to do something to protect that pure sweet heart from the darkness it couldn't handle.

Susannah would see Ana at work tomorrow, and she was determined to glean information from her about this photo. If she thought that Ana had feelings for Mr. Grey (as if the photo wasn't enough evidence), Susannah would just give her a subtle warning – not so obvious that it would reveal her own relationship with him, but enough to hopefully have her on her guard.

Resolved, Susannah quickly closed the newspaper without another glance. It would do no good to analyze the picture any further, and as fun as her free weekend had been, she really needed to focus on the edit for Mr. Kenna's final draft by tomorrow morning. It was a tedious process, doing these substantive edits, but she knew she needed to at least get it started today if she were to make any progress with the manuscript by tomorrow. With a heavy sigh, Susannah began to make her way from the kitchen to her bedroom to grab the materials she needed, knowing she had a long, boring afternoon of proofreading and grammar-checking ahead of her…

As a distraction, her mind drifted to baseball games, the Mariners, and a certain dirty-blonde haired guy she met today who loved them both. She didn't hold back her smile.

Despite the appearance of the photo, Susannah felt that today had been a pretty good day.

* * *

 **A/N: Susannah seems to value her friendship with Ana more than her relationship with Mr. Grey... think this will come into play later in the story? Also, what do you think is going to happen when Ana comes to dinner at the Grey Estate? Leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for all the love and support! You guys seriously rock:)**

 **To the reviewer who asked about my avatar – it's a screenshot of Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks playing Ronald and Nancy Reagan on SNL. Cuz Phil and Jan were the man.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 8:50 am

SIP

~Ana~

After the amazing weekend Ana experienced with the whole charity event and spending time with a certain gorgeous billionaire, she was pretty loathe to return to the office on Monday and get back to work. However, she couldn't help but feel a warm glow light her from within when she thought about her weekend – she couldn't believe a man like Christian Grey would want to spend any sort of time with her. Men like him used their time sparingly, since it was extremely valuable to most people, so he must consider her worth his time if he had invited her to meet his family on Wednesday. It made her feel all warm and happy inside, and she really couldn't wait to see him again.

Mondays still tended to drag, however, so Ana was determined to make this day at least somewhat tolerable. It was already made better by the venti iced coffee and raspberry scone she decided to treat herself with that morning at a nearby Starbucks. She walked into the office that morning with her treats in hand.

"'Morning, stranger," Susannah grinned at Ana as she walked into the annex with her breakfast. "Hey, where's my Starbucks?"

"In your purse. In the form of cash," Ana smiled sweetly before settling down at her desk with her things. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, Marcy wants to meet with all the editors around eleven o'clock," Susannah turned back to her computer. "Something about GEH installing new software on the company server that's going to streamline the editing process and increase productivity."

"No way," Ana said immediately. "Copyediting is fastest and most effective when it's done on Word or by hand with hard copies – everyone knows that."

"Apparently, the higher-ups don't," Susannah sighed. "Marcy's not very happy about it either, but GEH has always been all about the latest technology and newest software programs. There's really nothing we can do about it."

"It's gonna be a bust by the end of the month, I bet you anything," Ana shook her head as she booted up her computer.

"What's gonna be a bust?" Claire walked into the annex over by Ana and Susannah, carrying a large stack of mail in her arms she was obviously meant to parcel out to the various office workers.

"Corporate micromanaging," Susannah said with a smirk. She glanced toward the stack of mail in Claire's arms. "Did Mr. Kenna's new draft come in for me today?"

"I think so…here you are," Claire pulled a thick manila envelope out of the stack after a moment of searching and handed it to Susannah. "You're pretty lucky there, Susie – no one else's manuscripts came in today."

"Seriously? Cynthia still hasn't sent in her last chapter?" Ana slumped her shoulders dejectedly. "I've been waiting five days! The woman's a brilliant writer, but I swear she makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes."

"Simmer down there, Steele. I got something else here for you," Claire said with a mischievous grin. Ana looked up at her eagerly.

"What is it?" she asked, and with a small flourish, Claire set something down on top of Ana's keyboard. It wasn't a letter or a package, however – it was yesterday's newspaper, folded over to reveal a specific picture within the culture section.

Ana stared down at the picture with wide eyes, totally speechless. She heard Claire and Susannah laugh at her dumbstruck expression, but paid them no mind as she slowly picked up the paper and gazed closely at it, still unable to form words.

 _She and Christian were in the newspaper!_

"You must've been on fire Saturday night, Steele, cause you are lookin' smoking in that dress!" Claire said excitedly, gripping Ana's shoulder and gazing down at the picture too. Ana blushed profusely as Claire gave her shoulder a little squeeze. "So tell me – is Mr. Moneybags Grey as hot as all the pictures make him out to be?"

Ana smiled embarrassedly, her face still bright pink. "Hotter," she murmured after a moment, and she and Claire broke out into a fit of giggles.

"He seems to be quite the dancer, too," Susannah suggested coyly, and the three of them laughed again.

"He is," Ana grinned down at the picture again. Despite their teasing, she figured there was no use holding back from her friends now. "I had a really good time that night."

"Ugh, I am _so_ jealous!" Claire pouted exaggeratedly. "I love my boyfriend and everything, but having just one dance with that Adonis would seriously make my life."

"So you met him at this charity event thing?" Susannah asked Ana, but Ana shook her head.

"No, we first met when Marcy and I went to GEH last week. He and I talked for a little bit, and he was really nice and everything, but I didn't think I would ever to see him again. Bumping into him at the party was… a nice surprise, shall we say." Ana blushed, and the three of them giggled again.

"You go, girl! Man, I forgot the Adonis is technically the boss now," Claire sighed dreamily. "What is it about men in authority that get women all hot and bothered?"

"So, it's not weird, then?" Susannah turned to Ana again. "That you and… our boss are seeing each other socially?"

"Who said anything about seeing each other socially?" Claire piped up before Ana could respond. "It was just a single romantic night of fun and upper-class partying! If our Ana had half a brain, she would just enjoy the night for what it was and hope for nothing more. Don't think twice about it, okay Ana?"

"Okay Claire. Don't you have a stack of mail to deliver?" Ana looked amusedly at her friend, and Claire gave a coquettish giggle before turning and walking away, continuing her route of mail delivery for the day.

"I'm sorry if I was being too presumptuous, Ana," Susannah said immediately after Claire left. "It just sounded to me like you and this guy were really hitting it off, and I just assumed you liked him. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's okay, Susannah. You weren't being presumptuous. In fact…" Ana hesitated, glancing toward Claire's retreating figure before turning back to Susannah, her eyes shining. "I actually really do like him."

Susannah raised her eyebrows; she didn't smile or giggle or become giddy, which Ana thought was odd since they were doing just that only a moment ago. "You do?"

"Yeah. I mean… I dunno. There's just something about him," Ana shook her head, looking at the newspaper picture again and smiling. "I know he's handsome and everything, but he's also very kind-hearted and sweet… and surprisingly easy to talk to for a guy so rich."

"You don't think he's… intimidating, or anything?" Susannah asked, and Ana giggled.

"Because he's our boss? Not really," she shook her head. "I'm sure as a CEO he has to be pretty authoritative, but he's been nothing but sweet and attentive to me in all the times we've spoken."

Susannah regarded her friend with a critical eye. "So… he likes you too, then?"

Ana bit her lip, trying to suppress the huge grin threatening to break across her face. "I don't know… I think so. It's too early to tell, I think, but he invited me to meet his family for dinner on Wednesday. I figure that must mean something, right?"

"…Wait, what?" Susannah looked shocked. Her mouth gaped open slightly as she stared at Ana. "He invited you to meet his _family_?"

"Yeah. I mean, Kate has been dating Elliot Grey for about a month now," Ana amended quickly. "She was going to the dinner anyway to meet the whole family, and Christian told me about it. He was probably inviting me just to be polite for Kate and Elliot's sake…"

Ana didn't know why she was trying to justify her dinner invite to Susannah – maybe because the expression on her face was nothing short of flabbergasted. Ana had expected her to be excited and thrilled that a guy like Christian Grey wanted to spend more time with her, but once again Ana was surprised by her reaction.

"…Susie?" Ana asked after a moment, and she blinked, seeming to come back to herself a bit. Before Susannah could say anything, however, her cell phone buzzed with an incoming call.

"Oh, 'scuse me," Susannah said, glancing at the screen of her phone. A smile suddenly broke out over her face when she saw the caller id, and she quickly answered it, still grinning.

"Hey! What's up?"

Ana watched as Susannah stood up and made her way toward the door, chatting with whoever was on the other end. "…Yeah, I saw that! Hernandez got his second no-hitter, it was crazy…!"

Ana shrugged to herself, deciding to pay it no mind – she had a lot of work to do today anyway, despite Cynthia not handing in her manuscripts, and was resolved to focus on that instead.

Ana turned back to her computer, humming tunelessly to herself as she clicked on to her email. She glanced down at the newspaper on her desk again and couldn't fight the small smile that broke out across her face as she gazed at it.

* * *

~Susannah~

Susannah couldn't have been hearing her right… did he really invite Ana to meet his family? She couldn't believe it – Sir had actually invited Ana to meet his family! Christian Grey was _courting_ a woman! Actually courting her, with dates and dancing and romantic gestures! He was pursuing someone who wasn't a submissive, who wasn't in the lifestyle… it was almost unbelievable. Thinking of a man like Sir as a romantic guy who would go through all this effort for a girl made no sense whatsoever, and if Susannah wasn't so shocked by all this, she probably would have thought it was funny.

His behavior changed everything, though. While Susannah had been convinced that whatever romantic interest there was between Sir and Ana, it was entirely one-sided in Ana's favor. Susannah was planning on putting Ana on her guard, blurring the fine line of her NDA in an effort to keep her friend safe. But if Sir was interested in Ana the same way Ana was to him, where was the danger? He invited her to meet his family… he had never even attempted doing that with any of his submissives, Susannah was sure. Ana must be pretty special to him, if that was the case – maybe he was in love with her?

The thought of Sir in love was a strange and foreign concept. But in a weird, messed up way… it was actually kind of sweet.

Susannah was having a hard time sorting through her jumbled thoughts, and was immensely grateful that her phone started to ring before Ana could ask what was wrong. Noticing that it was Tony calling her, a huge smile couldn't help but break out across her face as she excused herself to answer it.

"Hi Susannah – it's Tony. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something at work, but I was just wondering if you caught the Mariners game last night."

She did catch it – the Mariners beat the Astros 10-2 in a surprisingly strong display of teamwork and blind dumb luck. Susannah, happy to have someone outside of work she could talk baseball with, spent the next five minutes or so just chatting with Tony about the game and baseball stats and the Mariners' chances at making the World Series (which was slim to none, but that didn't matter).

"...Hey, I was hoping to ask you something," Tony said after a lull in the conversation. He sounded slightly apprehensive. "Some friends and I were going out to Gino's during happy hour on Friday to watch the Mariners game and have a few drinks. It should be pretty fun… did you want to come?"

"Happy hour at Gino's… that's at 4 o'clock, right?"

"Yeah, and the game starts at five. What do you say?"

Susannah bit her lip – drinks and a baseball game on a Friday night sounded like heaven to her. She really wanted to go, but Friday evenings were when she had to get ready to go to Escala. She knew she really shouldn't go to Gino's that night, but after everything she had just discovered about Sir and Ana, her being bound to the D/s contract seemed of less significance now. If Sir could call off their weekend to spend time with another girl, surely she could call off a Friday night to hang out with another guy?

"You know what… I'd love to come," Susannah said after a moment, drawing up all her courage before she lost her nerve.

"Really? Great!" Tony sounded excited and relieved, and Susannah couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm. "I'm really glad! It'll be a great time, I'm sure."

"Definitely," Susannah said brightly, trying to ignore the guilty feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew she was justified in spending her time with someone else since Sir had already broken the rules of their contract (somewhat), but still… Master Grey was a violent and jealous man. He wasn't one to be messed with when he thought he was being made a fool of.

Susannah seriously hoped her little rebellion wasn't going to end up being a huge mistake. Right now, however, she couldn't bring herself to care all that much – for once, she was going do something _she_ wanted to do.

And you know what? It felt good.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the slight delay everyone! I really am trying to update in a timely matter.**

 **Next chapter should be the dinner at the Grey Estate. But until then, please review and let me know what you think of this chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews and support!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Grey Estate, 7:36

~Ana~

Ana had assumed dinner at the Grey's was going to be a small, intimate sit-down meal with Christian's immediate family members and Kate. Apparently to Mia Grey, however, dinner meant an actual party where at least thirty people within her immediate acquaintance were invited. Everyone from her old high school friends to her fellow culinary students were invited to the Grey Estate, and it was with a decent amount of shock when Kate and Ana arrived together and walked through the front doors, where everything seemed to be in full swing.

"Wow – now _this_ is what I call a dinner," Kate laughed as she and Ana walked into the foyer, surrounded by small groups of people mingling and sipping expensive-looking drinks. "Think we're overdressed?"

"God, I hope not," Ana giggled nervously. She and Kate had coordinated outfits for tonight – they wanted to look somewhat presentable when meeting the whole Grey family. Kate was wearing a nice-looking red A-line dress that fell to her knees and her blonde curly hair down around her shoulders, while Ana had opted to wear a demure cream lace dress with three-quarter sleeves and her hair up in a ponytail. Ana sincerely hoped they didn't look too modest or old-fashioned for this type of gathering.

"Kate – Ana!" Elliot suddenly appeared in front of them, grinning happily and carrying a bottle of Guinness. He kissed Kate on the cheek before gesturing around. "What do you guys think?"

"Um… it wasn't really what we were expecting," Kate looked amused as she watched a group of what looked like college kids walk past them. "Who are all these people?"

"Mia's friends and admirers, mostly. Once it became known she was back from studying abroad, well… let's just say an intimate family dinner wasn't sufficient enough." Elliot smirked and shook his head. "Our poor mother had to have her cooking staff work overtime to accommodate for all the extra people."

"Eh, she was happy to do it," An older man suddenly appeared at Elliot's side, clapping him on the shoulder with a grin. "Her baby girl's back from Europe – I think she'd be happy throwing a party for all of Seattle if it meant Mia was home."

"Carrick – this is my good friend, Ana Steele," Kate introduced Ana by taking her by the elbow and tugging her forward. "Ana, this is Christian and Elliot's dad, Carrick Grey."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Ana shook his hand with a small blush. From the way Carrick was smiling at her, she was sure he had also seen that picture in the _Seattle Times_.

"Nice to meet you, Ana. Christian should be here within the hour. Taylor called and explained he had some legal issues in the New York office he needed to work out with the financial officer. Emergency teleconferences are a part of the life, y'know?"

"C'mon guys. Mom and Mia are in the kitchen, we can go and say hi," Elliot gestured Ana and Kate to follow him down the hallway. While Ana knew the whole point she was here was to meet the whole Grey family, she still felt awkward being introduced everyone without Christian around. She wasn't really given much of a choice, however, when she was ushered forward into the spacious kitchen where about five or six people were congregated, scattered around and mingling.

"Grace – Mia," Carrick approached the two women chatting by the counter. They looked up at the sound of their names and smiled brightly when they noticed Ana and Kate.

"Oh, Kate! It's so nice to see you again!" Grace Trevelyan-Grey had a lovely smile and kind green eyes, surveying Kate with a maternal air as she welcomed her with a hug. Mia, however, was surveying Ana with an interested gaze.

"Mom, that's the girl Christian danced with at the charity gala," Mia informed her mother with an obvious elbow shove. Grace's expression immediately brightened with delight as she looked at Ana, who blushed.

"Oh! Of course, dear, how could I forget?" Grace surveyed Ana with warm eyes and an endearing smile. "I'm so sorry we didn't get to be introduced that night. I'm Dr. Trevelyan-Grey, but you can call me Grace."

"Ana Steele," Ana said shyly, taking Grace's outstretched hand.

"A pleasure to meet you Ana. You've already met Elliot, I presume, and this here is my daughter Mia."

"Hi! That picture of you and Christian in the _Times_ was gorgeous by the way!" Mia said enthusiastically, shaking Ana's hand with vigor. Ana felt her chest constrict with embarrassment as the others laughed, but she tried to smile it off.

"Thanks. I hadn't even realized someone had taken a picture of us. Some of my friends at work had to point out I was in the newspaper on Monday morning."

"Well, it's a beautiful picture. I've rarely seen Christian look so happy," Grace said with a significant smile in Ana's direction.

At that moment, some of Mia's old sorority sisters appeared, and the young women immediately greeted each other with enthusiastic screeching and gleeful hugs. Carrick and Elliot shook their heads, smirking to themselves at this loud female reunion, before turning around to head into the adjoining room. Mia and her girlfriends made their giddy way into the foyer, while Kate, who was holding Elliot's hand, followed the guys into the other room, leaving Ana alone with Grace.

"Ana, dear, can I get you something to drink? We have some wine here if you'd like."

"Sounds great, thank you."

Grace turned to the counter, where several bottles of wine sat beside a pile of pots and pans – the obvious remnants of the meal they were all supposed to have tonight. Grace looked around at the mess, a small frown on her face.

"I'm so happy my Mia's back from Europe, but tonight hasn't exactly turned out the way I was expecting. I should have realized Mia wanted a bigger a venue for her return…" She turned to look at Ana. "I was planning on making a pan-seared rib-eye steak and garlic mashed potatoes for our dinner tonight. It's the kids' favorite… but it looks like we're just going to have to make do with snacks."

Ana couldn't help but feel a bit sad for Grace's sake. She seemed like such a nice woman, and her heart had been in the right place for her daughter's homecoming. "Y'know, I've only made rib-eye steak once before, but I remember it was really delicious. I only seasoned it with salt and pepper, but I had also made these sweet potatoes and waffle fries that went really well with it."

Grace's face brightened at the subject of cooking. "That does sound delicious! Salt and pepper is good, but I would recommend it with a garlic and chive seasoning. Green beans and slivered almonds also go really well with it – I have this _amazing_ recipe, I have to show it to you sometime."

Grace talked about cooking and recipes for a while afterward, and just like that, Ana felt at ease. The nerves she experienced upon arrival were gone the moment she and Grace started to talk about food, and Ana was beginning to feel she could actually enjoy tonight, with or without Christian.

* * *

Escala

~Christian~

Damn it all to hell, why did Leonard pick today of all days to fuck up? Another move like this, and he was fucking fired – Christian didn't have time for this bullshit. Apparently there was a stipulation in Leonard's standard company employment contracts that his legal department didn't examine carefully enough, leaving him at over a million-dollar loss orchestrated by a jilted ex-accountant. Christian had to teleconference with Leonard, Ros, Leanna from PR, and four other businessmen in order to properly smooth this over. Even after 2 hours of going over the numbers and discussing how to deal with the inevitable media fallout, they were still barely halfway done with cleaning up this shit-storm. Accepting there was nothing else to be done tonight, Christian ended their call, promising to pick up where they left off tomorrow morning.

Once offline, Christian took out his earpiece and leaned back in his desk chair, rubbing his face with his hand before running his fingers through his hair, tugging his locks in frustration. It absolutely sucked that this had to happen, but also not that much of a surprise – Leonard was a grade-A asshole, much like Christian himself, but unlike Christian, he wasn't much in the way of a boss. Christian knew he didn't have that strong a hold on his company, so it was only a matter of time before there was a legal slip-up and a disgruntled employee got some payback. If that accountant didn't cause him to lose so much money, Christian might have hired her back to work for him at his Seattle office – she was a bitch for doing what she did, but was pretty cunning about it.

He checked his watch: dinner with Ana and his family had started almost thirty minutes ago, so he really needed to book it if he was going to make it within the hour. He hadn't anticipated on working so late, therefore he didn't feel like he needed to tell Ana. Thank God he had the foresight to call his dad, though, to let him know what was going on. Hopefully Carrick filled Ana in and she wasn't resenting him too much for being late.

As Christian texted Taylor to let him know he was ready to leave, he couldn't help but think of how strange it was to care about how Ana thought about him. He was nervous – goddamn _nervous_ – to see her tonight. Christian Grey didn't get nervous… and yet all he could think about was how much he hoped Ana was having a good time and didn't hate him for making her meet his parents without him. Propriety was always important to him, but it seemed paramount now if he wanted to keep Ana around for the long run.

 _As a sub_ , he thought firmly. He had to consciously remind himself that was all he wanted from her. _A submissive, nothing more._

About twenty minutes later in the car, Taylor was pulling into the winding driveway of the Grey estate, but he was forced to park pretty close to the road since about fifteen cars blocked their path. Realizing what this was and cursing Mia's gregarious nature, Christian climbed out of the car by himself and dismissed Taylor, telling him to come back in a few hours. Christian made his way to the front doors, the now-useless bottle of Prosecco clutched in his hand.

"Christian!" Mia greeted him enthusiastically the moment he walked through the door. Three of her girlfriends were standing around talking, but the moment Christian walked in they all immediately turned to face him, smiling brightly. Christian scowled – he so wasn't in the mood for these flirty girls.

"Mia, what the hell is all this?" Christian snapped at his sister, ignoring the others. "Mom was planning a nice dinner for us. Why'd you have to go and invite half of Seattle?"

"I didn't! People just showed up when they heard I was back!" Mia insisted with wide brown eyes that fooled no one. "Besides, everyone's having a really good time. You don't have to spoil the fun."

"Yeah, Christian. Don't spoil the fun," one of the girls piped up coquettishly. She had blonde hair and was wearing a low-cut camisole that accentuated her chest.

"Yeah, can we get you a drink or something? A beer or a glass of wine?" the tall brunette smiled at him, fluttering her long, store-bought lashes at him.

"Anything you want," the redhead offered, a telling flush to her cheeks.

Christian stared at them all impassively before looking at Mia, trying to silently convey his unasked question to her. She simply looked back at him, an amused smile tugging at her lips for a few seconds before she finally answered him:

"Ana's in the kitchen."

That's all he needed to know. Christian pushed past the group, a quick "Thanks," thrown over his shoulder as he hurried along. He could hear the girls all huffing indignantly at Mia, who just laughed, and Christian couldn't help but smirk to himself. Mia had never put up with her girlfriends balking at him, and would always play defense when they were being particularly aggressive. Mia was annoying most of the time, but sometimes she could be pretty awesome.

When he reached the doorway of the kitchen, he felt an electric pull of sorts, and he glanced around. After a moment, he saw her, standing by the counter and talking to his mother. His heart seemed to pound right out of his chest.

She was dressed in white. More of an off-white, cream color, but still white and still gorgeous. The lace dress was modest and sweet, yet it accentuated all her feminine curves and the slope of her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back, allowing Christian to examine the outline of her beautiful face and her slender neck. Aside from the tingle in his dick upon seeing her, there seemed to be other feelings he had never experienced before that wound their way through his chest, constricting his heart. He blinked.

 _His Angel in white._

And suddenly, just like that, while he watched Ana and his mother talk to each other in such a sweet, personable manner, he knew… he just fucking _knew_ that what he wanted from Ana was never going to happen. As much as he desired her, as much as he wanted her luscious red lips to scream out his name in ecstasy as he drilled into her relentlessly, he knew he couldn't bring himself to taint such a perfect creature by making her his submissive.

Along with these new and foreign feelings, there was now another one that Christian was becoming more and more used to… guilt.

He frowned. _Fuck, he really was screwed._

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Again, sorry for the delay, but like I said updates around going to be a bit sporadic around finals time.**

 **Next chapter will be the rest of the party. Leave a review and tell me what you think so far!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews and support! And also thank you for your patience:) You guys rock.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Grey Estate, 10:52 pm

~Christian~

The feeling Christian had had throughout the Coping Together charity event – that feeling of completeness and unhindered joy whenever he had been around Ana – seemed to be missing tonight. She was as lovely as she had been that evening, but seeing her interact so personably with his family made Christian's chest constrict in a way he couldn't explain. She didn't seem to be intimidated by his family's wealth or their social status; she treated every member of the Grey clan as equals, and they all loved her for it. She and Grace would bond over their favorite recipes, with Mia their favorite outlet malls, and with Elliot their favorite Kate stories. She was relating to them in ways that made Christian yearn for her all the more, but all that yearning did was just make his troubled thoughts about her become even more pronounced than they were before.

Ana wasn't submissive. She definitely wasn't a part of the scene, and even by nature… her sweet smiles and polite modesty didn't necessarily translate into submission in the playroom. Trying to turn her into a submissive would be wrong, Christian knew on some deep, subconscious level. But what was it about her that made him see that? She was brunette – an absolutely stunning one at that – but there was something else about her that forced him to stop and think. He didn't know what it was yet, but Ana being here and interacting with his family and among groups of strangers was not helping with his conflicted feelings.

Thank God, though, the party was finally beginning to die down around eleven o'clock. Almost everyone had left, though a few people continued to hang around. Among these stragglers were a couple of Mia's dumb friends, who still seemed intent upon getting Christian's attention however possible, even if it was his brief and irritated dismissal. Not only was their overt flirtation annoying to Christian, but it always seemed to happen whenever Ana was nearby. Despite his attempts at brushing them off, he couldn't help but feel Ana's beautiful blue eyes on him every time it happened. The last time it happened, Christian had turned around and she was no longer there.

 _Shit._

A little worried, Christian set out to look for her. For about five minutes, he wandered around the house, poking his head into various rooms and hoping to God she didn't leave the party without saying goodbye. As he walked along the east hallway, however, he heard sounds coming from the conservatory. He hurried to investigate.

The door to the room was slightly ajar, and Christian peeked in. The conservatory had been one of his favorite rooms growing up, since it was where Miss Kathie would give him his piano lessons as a child. His parents had kept it the same all these years, right down to the beautiful baby grand piano that stood in the center of the large, circular room. Ana, in her lovely white dress and fair skin, contrasted by the shiny black wood of the piano, was sitting on the bench Christian had sat on for a large portion of his childhood. She was silently admiring the beautiful instrument, and Christian stood at the door, silently admiring her.

 _She's beautiful._

She still hadn't noticed him standing in the doorway as her delicate fingers lingered reverentially over the piano keys. Christian watched them as they traced over the large instrument, and had started imagining what those beautiful fingers could be doing to _him_ when she began to press down on the keys, allowing the notes to ring out quietly into the silence. She played a couple tentative chords with her left hand before her right hand began to plunk out a familiar, sorrowful melody.

Christian smiled to himself; he knew this particular song quite well, and it was with deft, quiet steps that he moved over to sit beside her on the bench so he could join in.

She looked surprised by his appearance at her side, and her fingers quickly jumped away from the keys, afraid she had done something wrong, but Christian indicated with a nod she continue her song so he could provide the accompaniment. With a smile, Ana watched Christian's skilled fingers begin to glide along the instrument, move up the scales in a minor key that sounded so familiar and sweet. Christian nodded again to Ana's hand, indicating she could join in any time, and Ana finally lifted her right hand to the keys…

 _Moon river  
_ _Wider than a mile…_

She had begun to softly sing the words as she played, and Christian was so shocked he almost stopped the accompaniment. He couldn't remember anyone other than his mother ever singing for him, but he listened to Ana's sweet, lilting voice with captivated attention.

 _I'm crossing you in style  
_ _Someday_

Her gentle soprano was like the voice of an angel, and even though the small quaver in her voice meant she clearly wasn't confident in her singing, Christian knew he had never heard anything so beautiful in his entire life:

 _Oh, dream maker  
_ _You heartbreaker  
_ _Wherever you're going  
_ _I'm going your way_

Christian continued to play, letting the notes swell and wane with the song's cues. It truly was a beautiful piece, and Ana only made it even more gorgeous.

 _Two drifters  
_ _Off to see the world  
_ _There's such a lot of world  
_ _To see_

Christian felt her words, and the world around them seemed to fade away. It was just the two of them – two drifters, off to a world only they knew. Christian let the peace he felt at that moment wash over him, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

 _We're after the same  
_ _Rainbow's end  
_ _Waiting 'round the bend  
_ _My Huckleberry friend_

 _Moon river…  
_ _And me_

Ana ended the song softly and sweetly, while Christian ended by rolling fifths up the scale. When he reached the middle C, Ana continued his scale seamlessly, ending the song on a high G, holding it until the sound faded away.

"That was beautiful," Ana said quietly after a second, looking down at Christian's hands. She was obviously referring to his accompaniment, and Christian couldn't help but smile – his own piano skills could never compare to the simple beauty of her presence.

"Yes, it was. Your singing was what made it so beautiful."

"Yeah, right."

"It was. You shouldn't sell yourself short… you could give Audrey Hepburn a run for her money," Christian gave her a dazzling smile, and he reveled in her rising blush.

"My mom used to sing Moon River to me when I was a kid," Ana admitted quietly after a moment of quietness. Christian watched as she idly traced the keys with her fingers again, recounting the memory. "Breakfast at Tiffany's was her favorite movie, and I would always hear her singing that song. It became the only song I ever taught myself to play on the piano."

Christian gazed at her for a moment before glancing down at his feet. "It's a good song," he murmured, not sure what else to say.

Ana nodded. "It was a good memory," she muttered quietly, still fingering the keys.

Christian looked at her; he saw those delicate hands and downcast blue eyes, and just knew she was recounting something sad. Perhaps she did not have many good memories of her mother, and Christian's heart clenched for her. The tender sympathy he felt for her at this moment was profound, and he didn't want to let it go. Reaching over, he tilted her chin up so she was looking at him, and he was gazing into her gorgeous blue eyes. Her long lashes fluttered imperceptibly as she gazed up at him, their faces no more than a few inches apart.

The intimacy of the moment settled on them, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world when Christian leaned in, eyes closed, and met her lips with a soft kiss.

 _Heaven_ … She was soft and sweet and everything Christian ever imagined she would be and more. She was just simply Ana, and Christian reveled in the feel of her perfect lips against his as he kissed her. With a groan, Ana opened her mouth against his, granting his tongue access, and Christian's heartbeat raced. He nipped and licked at her plump bottom lip for a few seconds before delving in with his tongue, escalating their kiss to the point where Ana let out another moan as her hands snaked up to his head and tangled in his hair.

 _Holy Christ._

This wasn't like their fevered, frenzied kiss from the elevator – this was gentle, intimate, and meaningful. Christian couldn't decide which kiss he liked more. He wished they could stay in this moment; just him and Ana and his piano, forever. But reality was beginning to intrude, and Christian was getting almost painfully hard. He slowly and reluctantly pulled away, breathing slowly, and Ana rested her forehead against his, her eyes still closed. For a moment, the two of them just sat there together, regulating their breathing and basking in one another's presence.

"Do you play piano for all the girls you try to seduce?" Ana muttered after a moment, smirking slightly in an attempt at levity. Christian chuckled lightly.

"Well, since you're the only person I've ever played piano for, and we were just making out, I'd say the system works," he smiled. Ana pulled away slightly, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You've never played piano for someone before? Not even your family?"

Christian shook his head.

"But you play so beautifully," Ana looked confused, and Christian felt an unfamiliar emotion swell up in his chest as he gazed at her sweetly innocent face. "People should hear you play, Christian."

Christian shook his head. "I'm a pretty solitary person, Ana. I… it's hard to explain."

He wouldn't know where to begin, explaining to her the life he led since he was fifteen – the life he was currently leading. She would run away screaming if she knew all the gory details of what he did with women on the weekends, and his guilt over not having ended the contract with Susannah yet intensified.

 _What if Ana found out?_

"I can imagine," Ana muttered, and Christian looked at her. "Your job, and the stress that comes with it… making connections with people can be difficult." She stared at him for a moment before smiling slightly. "Thank you for letting me hear you play."

Christian gazed back at her, and the sweet affection he saw dancing in her eyes made him smile. "You're very welcome, Ana."

They continued to stare at each other, and Christian's heart was pounding a frenzied tattoo against his ribs. He couldn't remember ever having this sort of reaction to a woman before – simply looking at her and being with her in a normal, non-sexual setting was making him almost crazy with desire. Their faces were inches apart, and Christian felt that pull again.

"I really want to kiss you again," he said quietly, his eyes flicking down to her luscious lips, silently asking permission. Those beautiful lips parted slightly as she let out a short gasp, and Christian knew if he could just press his lips onto the base of her perfect, slender neck, he would feel her pulse jumping wildly under her alabaster skin. His dick began to throb at the thought.

Ana closed her mouth after a moment and swallowed. "…We probably shouldn't," she whispered, her voice quivering slightly.

Christian closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. She was right, of course, and Christian knew it. The severe disappointment he felt at not having her mouth against his at this moment was not diminished, however.

"No, we shouldn't," he agreed quietly. It was almost like she could see inside his dark soul and all the horrible shit that came with it. The thought was sobering.

"I'm sorry, it's just that… you're my boss…" she whispered hesitantly, and Christian couldn't help but grin slightly. Him being a CEO was hardly the biggest problem of why she couldn't be his.

"Oh baby, you think that matters to me?" he whispered, bringing a hand up to caress her soft cheek. Ana leaned into his hand, her eyes closed, and it all felt so right… but Christian couldn't fail to notice the small frown still marring her beautiful features.

Christian sighed. Still brushing his fingers over her cheek, he leaned in so he could rest his forehead against hers, trying to quell the swirling chasm of emotion he felt in his chest. The feeling was profound and strange, and he couldn't help his wry grin.

"Oh, Ana," he whispered, a small smile still on his lips. "What you do to me…"

And it was the tender look in her eyes and the sweet smile that lit her face that let Christian know that all hope was not lost yet. She liked him nearly as much as he liked her, and that knowledge alone gave him strength even hours later, after she and everyone else had gone home. Ana made him feel like a different man – a new man. Someone who didn't need all the fucked up shit he had been doing for the past thirteen years or so. The idea of hearts and flowers had never appealed to him before, but Christian couldn't help but think about them with a smile… he wanted to give Ana all of that and more. She made him feel like he _could_ be the one to give her all of that.

Maybe wooing was something he could actually do. It was worth a shot... for her, at least.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope to get more into Christian's and Ana's pasts in future chapters. They're going to be a bit different than from the book: you've been warned!**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter! If you want, you can leave a review and tell me what you thought!:)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews and support!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Thursday, 8:45 am

SIP

~Susannah~

"Susannah!"

Susannah looked up from her computer, and saw Ana stalk towards her from the door of the annex. Susannah blinked, surprised.

"Ana?"

Ana stopped in front of her desk, glaring at her. "You total shit! You lied to me!"

Susannah's eyes widened and her heart pounded against her ribcage in a panic.

 _She knows_.

"Ana… I-I…" she stammered, at a loss for words.

"Why didn't you tell me Tony Finn asked you out for drinks tomorrow night?"

Susannah gaped at her. The panic she felt suddenly froze in her chest, and her brain had to take a few seconds to realize exactly what Ana was talking about. "Huh?"

Ana sat down at her desk, looking at Susannah reproachfully. "Oh, come on! I went to Finn's Corner this morning to grab a cup of coffee, and Tony mentioned you stopped by on Sunday. He said you two really hit it off. You never even told me you went there last weekend!" Ana reached over and swatted at her on the arm, but the huge grin that began to spread across her face allowed Susannah to relax a bit and calm her still rapidly beating heart.

 _She doesn't know._

"I didn't lie. It was just an omission," Susannah said defensively.

"What was an omission?" Claire suddenly walked in, a large cup of coffee in her hand and a curious expression on her face.

"Susannah went to coffee shop last weekend and got a date with the owner's son," Ana said immediately. Claire's mouth popped open with delight.

"Wow! Way to go, Susie!"

"It is not a date," Susannah insisted, but Ana rolled her eyes.

"You guys are having drinks. On a _Friday_ ," she said as if it were obvious, and Claire covered her smile with her hand. "Trust me, it's a date."

"We're just going to Gino's tomorrow night with his friends to have a few drinks and watch the Mariner's game. That's it, nothing more."

Claire suddenly looked excited. "Ooh, drinks at Gino's? Can Ana and I tag along?"

Ana laughed, and Susannah couldn't help but grin. "Sure, I don't see why not. As long as it's cool with Marcy that we're meeting for happy hour."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Oh! Maybe we could invite Kate," Ana turned to Claire with wide, excited eyes. "She gets off work at around four. We can make a whole group thing out of it."

"Oh my God, I love it!" Claire squealed. "We should text her later. So tell me about this coffee shop guy – what's his name? Is he cute?"

"Yes, and his name's Tony." Ana spoke up before Susannah could. "I've known him and his family for a while now, and when I was talking to him this morning, his eyes totally lit up when he brought up Susannah. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was already completely smitten by her."

"Awww," Claire cooed, covering her smile with her hand.

"Stop it guys," Susannah muttered, blushing profusely. She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, she just wanted them to stop assuming there was anything going on between her and Tony. Because there wasn't and never could be.

"Yeah, stop it Ana. Susie's getting embarrassed," Claire teased, grinning. "I gotta run back to my desk – Marcy's schedule isn't going to do itself. See you guys later."

As Claire walked away, Susannah turned and glared at Ana, who was still grinning at her. "You're enjoying this."

"I'll admit it," Ana snickered, turning on her computer so she could start her work. "But, y'know, I've known Tony Finn for over a year now and he's never once asked me to go out to drinks with his friends…" She was looking at Susannah with a small glint in her eye. "I'm just saying."

Susannah blushed again. She had to admit that in the days leading up to Friday she had been struggling with the thought that having drinks with Tony was more than a 'just friends' thing. Ana and Claire's reactions to it seemed to confirm that fact… but Susannah was still a bit conflicted about it. Was it okay for her to go out for drinks with a guy who wasn't her Dominant? She had avoided thoughts of Sir and the many rules she was undoubtedly breaking by choosing to do this. But at the same time there wasn't really anything in the contract to prohibit her from going out for drinks with her friends. That's all this was, wasn't it? Ana, Claire, Kate, Tony and a few others were all going to be there for happy hour… so what was the problem? It wasn't like she and Tony were having sex or anything – it was just drinks at a bar for a couple hours while watching the baseball game. It was totally and completely platonic.

Feeling slightly mollified, Susannah turned back to her computer to continue her work. However, after a couple minutes of reading a manuscript, she remembered the one rule she was definitely going to be breaking by going out for drinks tomorrow – her standing appointment to be at Escala by seven o'clock every Friday night for their session. She didn't know how long the Mariners game was supposed to last, but it probably was going to go way past the time she was supposed to be ready. Shit… how was she going to get out of this? She supposed she could call Sir and tell him she was going to be working late or something… or maybe she could use her patent excuse of visiting her brother in Spokane? Yeah, that could work. She could call up Sir and tell him she had a family emergency and needed the weekend off to be with her brother. It was a downright lie, sure, but it wasn't much worse than the lie he told her last weekend. Right?

Resolved with her story, Susannah continued working on the manuscript at her computer for the rest of the morning. By noon, she had headed out by herself to walk the three blocks to the corner Qdoba and have a taco salad for lunch. As she walked along the busy Seattle road with the other pedestrians, she pulled out her cell phone and called Sir, hoping she would convey more confidence than she felt at the moment.

He picked up the phone after the second ring, and as Susannah explained to him (as submissively as she could) her reason as to why she wasn't going to be able to make their session this weekend, he seemed strangely relieved. Susannah was sure she could guess the reason as to why.

"It's alright, Susannah. I completely understand – go be with your brother. Will you be back in Seattle by Sunday?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I'll expect you at Escala by noon that day. Understand?"

Susannah was surprised, but quickly acquiesced. "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Have a good day Susannah."

"You too, Sir."

They hung up, leaving Susannah immensely relieved as well as kind of confused. Her Friday night was in the clear, but why did he want to meet her on Sunday? To have a playroom session? Susannah supposed since he hadn't had one for two weeks now he needed some sort of sexual release, even if it was only for a few hours. If that was the case, then, she couldn't help but feel immensely disgusted with him as well as with herself.

Susannah shook her head, hoping against hope it wouldn't get that far. God, this whole situation was so messed up.

She was at least thankful she had another weekend to get her thoughts straightened out. As well as drinks at Gino's with her friends tomorrow night. Susannah couldn't help but smirk slightly to herself… perhaps she might just survive this weekend after all.

* * *

GEH

~Christian~

Thank fuck. Susannah was going to be out of town this weekend. The relief Christian felt upon receiving that information was immense and welcome – as eager as he was for their contract to be over and done with, he still had no idea what he was going to say to her when the time came for him to tell her. What if she wanted to know the reason for their termination? With all of his previous subs, he had been straightforward about why he was ending their contracts. Should he be straightforward with Susannah as well?

 _Hello Susannah. I met this girl last week, and I'm falling for her pretty hard, so I guess you're just not doing it for me anymore. If you could sign our contract termination, that'd be great. Have a nice life. Taylor will see you out._

Yeah, that would go over well. Christian might not have a heart, but even he wasn't _that_ heartless. He figured if worst came to worst, he would just lie about the reason for terminating their agreement – perhaps he could chalk it up to work-related issues?

Christian sighed to himself. He wondered if this whole situation would ever get less complicated.

 _Bzzzz Bzzzz_

His BlackBerry vibrated on his desk with an incoming call. A cursory glance at the screen made Christian roll his eyes before reluctantly picking it up and answering:

"Hi Elliot."

"Hey bro, what's up? I didn't get to see you after Mia's party last night, so I just wanted to check in and see how you were."

"How thoughtful of you," Christian quipped. He was sure his brother just wanted to dig up some information on Ana. "But if I remember correctly, you and Miss Kavanagh had snuck away together to your old bedroom right when I was heading out. I didn't want to intrude."

Elliot laughed. "Oh yeah, sorry about that. Katie was getting seriously pissed at all of Mia's friends who were flirting with me. God, they were fucking relentless. So I took her to my room to show her she's the only woman I want – sometimes you gotta just reassure the lady in your life, y'know?"

"Elliot Grey, you are a true romantic."

"So I've been told," Elliot chuckled. "I noticed you and Ana had disappeared for a little while. Were you _reassuring_ her too?"

Christian rolled his eyes. "That's really none of your business."

"Hey, c'mon, man. I happen to really like Ana, and according to Kate, she really likes you too. I'm happy for you guys."

"We're just friends, Elliot," Christian said, sighing. He certainly wasn't about to explain to Elliot his confused feelings and fucked up personal life.

"Yeah, right. I saw the way you two were looking at each other. And the fact that you invited her to meet our folks last night tells me you're pretty into her too."

Christian flushed. "Fuck off, man."

"I just call it how I see it," Elliot chuckled. "You and Ana… there's definite potential there, dude."

"And is that why you're calling me now? To laugh at me about Ana?"

"Sort of," Elliot teased. "Did Ana tell you about tomorrow night?"

"No. What's tomorrow night?"

"Apparently she and some of her work friends are going out to Gino's for happy hour on Friday. Katie's going and she invited me to come along. Did you want to come with us?"

"To be your third wheel? No thank you," Christian snorted.

"No, to spend some time with Ana, you idiot. You guys could see each other in a normal, non-threatening, 'just-two-people-hanging-out-at-a-bar' kind of way. What do you say?"

Christian hesitated. Interacting with Ana somewhere that wasn't his company or his parent's place seemed like a risky move in his mind. He hardly ever did social things like go out to bars – how should he even behave? What would he even say to her?

"I don't know, Elliot… hanging out at a bar? That's not really my thing."

"Oh, c'mon man – it'll be fun!" Elliot persisted. "And I'd bet you anything Ana would love it if you turned up and surprised her there. Girls think it's romantic when guys can be spontaneous and shit."

Christian couldn't help but chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought it over. The idea of seeing Ana again so soon after last night was an appealing one, but the nerves he felt still wouldn't go away. Is this what wooing a girl was supposed to feel like?

"I can't believe you're talking me into this…" Christian mumbled, shaking his head, and Elliot laughed.

"Ha! I knew I'd get to you in the end! So what do you say?"

Christian sighed, tilting his head back in defeat, but a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth nevertheless. _Oh, what the hell._

"What time?"

* * *

 **A/N: And the drama begins! I'm sure most of you can guess what's coming:) Leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Wow, thank you all for the awesome reviews! Your speculation is wonderful – keep it up!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Friday, 5:12 pm

Gino's

~Susannah~

Finding them ensconced at a table near the back, Susannah, Ana, and Claire had entered the crowded bar and made their way over to where Tony and his friends were sitting. They were immediately welcomed and introduced to the whole gang (Matt, Lucas, and Brady), and after sitting with these guys for all of five minutes, the girls had taken quite a shine to them and their various charms. For the entire hour leading up to the game, they all chatted easily over drinks. As shy and nervous as Susannah was when meeting new people, she couldn't help but talk openly about her week and fall into easy conversation with the others as if she did this sort of thing all the time.

Once the game had started, and another round of beers had made its way around the group, Susannah started to loosen up a bit more. She and Tony began discussing the Mariners with such alacrity that they had completely forgotten about the others around them. Tony's friends soon decided to move over to the big screen TV at the other side of the bar to get a better look at the game. Claire and Ana, conspiring to give Susannah and Tony a bit of privacy, made their way together toward the jukebox to find some good music to play. Kate and Elliot had arrived together soon after and, after saying hello, found a small corner booth to themselves so they wouldn't be disturbed.

Susannah felt flushed with happiness, and seemed unable to wipe the smile from her face as she chatted with Tony about her favorite sport. Hanging out with new friends and old friends at a bar on a Friday evening… she couldn't remember the last time she had had this much fun. She was determined to savor the feeling.

* * *

~Tony~

Tony hadn't been able to stop thinking about Susannah all week. He couldn't help it – she was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on. The fact that she had come on Sunday to the coffee shop where he happened to be working still totally baffled him. How had he been so lucky as to cross paths with this amazingly perfect girl that very day? Just the thought of her beautiful green eyes or her enchanting smile thrilled him in ways he hadn't experienced in a very long time. Dating and falling in love hadn't been on his radar for a while now – working extended hours at Finn's Corner seemed to take up all of his free time, and there had never really been any girl that had piqued his interest enough. But Susannah… God, she made him feel things he couldn't remember ever feeling for anyone. She actually made him _want_ to try for something more, which was a pretty new concept for him.

The relief and excitement Tony had felt upon seeing her walk into Gino's was immense, and he couldn't seem to stop grinning. To say that he had been nervous to see her again was an understatement: talking to her on the phone was one thing, but actually being with her in a social setting was another. When he saw her look his way with those eyes and that smile, however, his heart seemed to stop and his nerves disintegrated almost immediately.

 _She came_.

Susannah met up with them, and she and Tony had fallen into easy conversation after that. Matt and Lucas, who had been teasing him all week about him and 'Coffee Shop Girl', were now eating their words, much to Tony's delight. He knew they saw exactly what he saw in her: a beautiful, sexy, smart, ambitious young woman who knew more about baseball than anyone else at the table. She was absolutely perfect.

"Want to sit at the bar?" Tony shouted over the rowdy bunch of frat guys that had taken the table next to theirs. Susannah nodded at him, and the two of them got up and made their way to the bar. It was mostly vacated, thankfully, since the large crowd of people within Gino's had migrated over to the big flat screen to watch the Mariner's game.

"Want to try to get a closer look?" Tony asked Susannah, nodding toward the TV. "I think Seager's up to bat."

Susannah glanced over and grimaced at the obnoxious crowd cheering around the television. "Not really," she turned back to Tony and gave him a cute smile, causing Tony's heart to practically beat out of his chest. He loved the fact she had changed into casual-wear for tonight: a simple flannel shirt and tank top, skinny jeans and converse high tops. She was obviously comfortable to be herself around him, a fact that delighted him immensely.

"Me neither," he grinned, and Susannah giggled. He would gladly spend the rest of this night right here in this very spot away from the action if it meant she would smile at him like that.

The bartender soon approached and asked them what they wanted to drink. Tony ordered another Dos Equis while Susannah got a Miller Lite on tap. The two of them clinked glasses before taking a drink.

"You know, I'm really glad I came tonight," Susannah said after a comfortable lull in the conversation. "Thank you for inviting me."

"Yeah, of course. I'm having a good time," Tony smiled at her, and he was convinced he saw her blush. "We should definitely do it again soon."

"Totally," Susannah grinned. "And I promise not to bring my dumb friends next time."

Tony laughed and glanced over toward the jukebox, where Claire and Ana were still stationed. The two of them, a bit tipsy after doing a couple shots of tequila, were doubled over laughing at the song Claire had chosen to play – "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band.

"It's okay. Ana's a friend, and she's obviously having a good time," Tony turned back and grinned at Susannah, who rolled her eyes while taking another sip of beer.

"Well, I can't make any promises as to what's going to happen with her tonight. 'Drunk Ana' is someone I have very limited experience in."

"I'm sure you'll handle her just fine," Tony chuckled just as a high-pitched voice shouted " _Susie_!"

"Oh boy," Susannah muttered amusedly as she watched Ana weave her way unsteadily through the crowd. "Watch out, she gets pretty handsy when drunk."

"I don't think it's me that's got to watch out," Tony said just as Ana reached them, and Susannah couldn't help but laugh loudly as Ana immediately wrapped her arms around her in a ridiculously tight embrace.

* * *

*10 minutes earlier*

~Christian~

Christian had entered through the front door of Gino's around 5 o'clock feeling awkward as all hell. He couldn't remember the last time he had done something like this – go out to a regular bar on a Friday evening in a casual shirt and jeans. This just wasn't him… but when he began to think about what he usually did on Friday nights, he felt a little better about himself. The God's honest truth was that he would much rather be doing something like this on the off-chance of spending time with Ana than have a mandatory playroom session with Susannah.

Christian shook his head, smiling wryly to himself – God, the shit he would do for Anastasia Steele. Even _he_ was surprised by himself.

The place was pretty crowded, so Christian made his way over to the bar, glancing around and hoping to see a familiar face. Ordering a Guinness from the bartender, he drank silently while taking in his surroundings: most of the people were crowded around the huge flat screen TV on the other side of the room, cheering on the Mariners as they took on the Rockies. The bar area was pretty empty as a result, and even though he was sitting in the far corner, Christian was left feeling pretty exposed. He glanced throughout the crowd, hoping to find Elliot or Ana or someone he knew. His brother had texted him to let him know when he arrived, so Christian knew he was around here somewhere. It was only a matter of finding him through the hordes of baseball fans.

So engrossed was he in searching the crowd that it took him a few moments to notice the only other two people sitting at the bar on the opposite end: a broad-shouldered guy with sandy hair and a petite brunette girl…

Susannah.

Christian sputtered and nearly choked on his beer when he noticed her. _Holy shit_ … Susannah was here! She looked a bit odd in casual clothes and no make-up, but it was definitely her. She and the guy were sitting at the opposite side of the bar and angled away from him, thankfully, so she hadn't noticed him yet, but Christian couldn't help but silently panic. What the fuck was Susannah even doing here?! Wasn't she supposed to be in Spokane? The consequences of her obvious lie to him would be dealt with later – his only objective now was to get out as quickly and quietly as possible, before anyone noticed him. He would pay the bartender, make an excuse to Elliot about being slammed with work, head back to Escala, and forget tonight had ever happened…

" _Susie_!"

Christian looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. Ana, clearly having had too much to drink, suddenly appeared out of the crowd and threw her arms around Susannah's shoulders in a tight embrace. Susannah, laughing along with the guy, hugged her back affectionately. Ana pulled away after a second or two, grinning widely at Susannah before throwing an arm around her shoulders and leaning on her heavily, obviously due to her intoxication. She, Susannah, and the guy began to strike up a conversation, all of them clearly comfortable and friendly around each other.

Christian watched the scene unfold while his brain seemed to short-circuit. All he could do was stare in utter disbelief, the surreal-ness of this situation gripping him and refusing to let go.

Ana and Susannah. In the same bar.

Together.

As friends.

Acquaintances.

Drinking buddies.

 _Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit._

Christian couldn't think clearly; it was as if his head was trapped in a suffocating fog as he watched. How was this even possible? How could he not have realized? He felt like a dirty son of a bitch, seeing Ana and Susannah interact in an obviously friendly manner. It was a disgusting feeling, watching them… like bile rising up in his throat. He felt like a low-life scumbag who got caught cheating on his girlfriend in public, something that had obviously never happened to him before. Yet the revulsion felt the same.

He needed to leave. Get out before someone noticed him. But all he seemed able to do at the moment was stand frozen to the spot, staring on in disbelief.

"Christian!"

Oh, fuck – Elliot had noticed him. And fuck… he was now walking over, grinning like an idiot, unaware of the mental breakdown Christian was currently experiencing. He really needed to get out of here… he glanced over at Ana and Susannah again, and saw that Ana had begun making her way unsteadily to the bathroom, being helped along by the handsome dickweed that was with them. Susannah, however, was still sitting at the bar... she had unfortunately heard Elliot's loud greeting and was currently sitting frozen to the spot, her face ashen, while staring straight at Christian.

For seconds that stretched out for millennia, Susannah and Christian just looked at each other. Christian saw the plethora of emotions cross over Susannah's face: fear, regret, horror, panic, and embarrassment all rolled together in a seamless collage. Christian, however, could only experience one emotion: blinding, all-consuming anger. And it was all directed at the girl he was currently staring at.

"Bro, I've been texting you!" Elliot finally made it over, clapping Christian on the arm in a friendly greeting. "I'm glad you're here – come and join us!"

"I have to go, Elliot," Christian said, his jaw ticking, trying in vain to control his rage. He needed to get out of there before he punched something.

"What? No – come on, you just got here!"

"I'm leaving," Christian said tightly, trying to push past him toward the door. Elliot still held onto his arm, however.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.

 _No._

"Everything's fine. Now let go of me," he said curtly, and with a final tug, pulled his arm free of Elliot's grasp. Without another word, he stalked away toward the door, not bothering to look back. He just needed to get out of here...

As Christian left the rowdy crowd of party-goers behind, only one thought seemed to be able to pervade his frayed and shiftless senses:

 _Susannah. She was going to pay for this._

* * *

 **A/N: I probably should be working on my senior thesis, but this seemed like a better use of my time:)**

 **I hope you all liked this chapter! So do you think Christian's anger is justified? Or is it just projected embarrassment? What exactly is Susannah feeling at the moment? Leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I got some very interesting responses from last chapter. This chapter and the next will hopefully satisfy your curiosity!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

~Susannah~

Susannah felt sick. This wasn't real – surely this couldn't be happening. Her head was spinning, and her stomach was rolling uncomfortably. This perfect evening had now delineated into a complete nightmare.

 _Sir was here._

Sir had been here at Gino's and he had seen her drinking with another man. Seen her _flirting_ with another man. After having lied to him about what she was doing this weekend. She hadn't just broken the rules of their contract, she had completely and utterly decimated them while shoving the remains right into his face.

 _What the hell was she thinking?_

Sir looked absolutely furious as he stormed out of Gino's, not after having stared straight at Susannah for what felt like an eternity with the deadliest glare she'd ever seen from him. That look alone shook Susannah to her core; she was scared – right and truly terrified of what the consequences of her actions were going to be.

She was going to get punished. She knew it… and this wasn't going to be the exciting, pleasurable punishment fuck she would often get from a Dom after having broken a rule. No, this was going to be bad. A safe word could do little to help her now.

Just as Susannah's fear and panic reached its peak, her phone dinged with an incoming text message. With shaking hands, she opened and read it:

 _A family emergency? You know what the consequences of lying to me are, Susannah. You can have the rest of your little evening out, but I'll expect you at Escala tomorrow morning at ten o'clock sharp. I am angered at your disrespect._

Susannah read the message over again, and had overpowering urge to vomit. She could only stare down at Sir's text, holding her phone in a vice-like grip while trying to regulate her breathing. Even though he didn't use any expletives or caps, she could still practically feel the anger radiating out of his words to her. Her lower lip trembled as tears threatened to spill down her face.

She hated it. Feeling like this… like an errant child about to be punished for her misdemeanors. Never in all of her time as a sub had she felt this horrible. She desperately wished she could just be normal when it came to relationships. Normal like Claire or Ana were… Susannah's eyes suddenly widened – oh God, Ana! Ana had been with her when Sir was here… he probably saw her too! That would certainly explain the shocked look on his face, but Susannah couldn't be sure. He may not even have seen her at all, and the prospect of her impending punishment tomorrow morning drove all other worries from her mind at the moment.

"Hey." Tony had come back, grinning brightly at Susannah and unaware of the distress she was currently undergoing. "Claire took Ana into the bathroom. I managed to help her to the door, but I couldn't follow her in. Man, that girl _cannot_ handle her alcohol."

"Yeah…" Susannah smiled tremulously, not trusting herself to say any more.

"Did you want another beer?"

Susannah shook her head, feeling desperately anxious. It was barely six, but she wanted nothing more than to just go home and take a bath before crawling into bed and forgetting tonight had ever happened. Sir had told her to enjoy the rest of her evening out, but how could she when she was this agitated and upset?

"Um… no thanks," Susannah murmured, getting shakily to her feet. "I, uh… I need to talk to Claire for a second. Excuse me."

She turned and walked over the ladies room, where Claire was waiting for Ana to finish up. Claire grinned as Susannah approached, but her smile faded after she got a look at the expression on her face.

"Hey girl. Everything alright? You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine. I have to go."

"What?" Claire's eyes widened in surprise. "But we just got here!"

"Something came up. I'm sorry, I have to go right now. I just wanted to let you and Ana know before I left," Susannah said, not meeting her eyes.

"Okay," Claire sounded concerned. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'll see you Monday," Susannah murmured as she turned to leave. She knew Claire wasn't convinced, but at the moment she just didn't care.

"Hey," Tony greeted Susannah as she walked back to her seat. He finally seemed to pick up something was wrong. "Everything okay?"

 _No._

"Yeah, it's fine," Susannah muttered, grabbing her purse and coat she had left at the bar. "I, uh… I have to get going, though. I have an early day tomorrow."

"Wha? – oh. Okay," Tony looked surprised at her demeanor. "I'll walk you out."

"No, no that's okay," Susannah said quickly, unable to look him in the eye. "I just… I need to go."

She quickly made her way toward the door, weaving her way through the crowd of people. She could sense Tony following her, even when she reached the cool night air of the of the street outside. She began to walk toward the parking lot, and he followed her.

"Susannah – wait," Tony said, hurrying so he could catch up with her. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What?" Susannah turned to look at him confusedly. "No, of course not."

"Are you sure? 'Cause if I did…"

"No, you didn't," Susannah said, trying to convey her sincerity. "I had a really good time tonight, Tony. Really… I – I just…" she hesitated, unable to find the right words to explain her fucked-up feelings at the moment. "I have to go."

"Hold on," Tony reached out and placed his hand on her elbow. "If something's going on, Susannah, you can tell me about it."

"No, I can't," Susannah said firmly. No way in hell was she going to discuss this with anybody. "Please, I need to go."

"Hey…" Tony moved around so he was facing her, the concern in his eyes evident even in the Seattle dusk. Susannah felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes again, and her bottom lip trembled.

"Please… Tony, I-I…" she stammered, trying to get the words out. But the combination of Sir's appearance, her impending punishment, Tony's pitiful gaze, and the alcohol she drank was starting to get to her, and a tear or two slipped down her cheek.

"Hey, hey… it's alright," Tony said gently. In a moment, his arms were around her, holding her as she sobbed unrestrainedly into his shoulder, letting out all of her fear and anxiety. Susannah knew Tony was the reason she was even in this predicament, but she hardly cared at the moment. Tony didn't deserve her anger – it was all directed at herself at the moment, for what she had gotten herself into. Also, it just felt too good to be in his arms for her to let go now.

"Shh. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay…" Tony murmured after a few seconds, rubbing his hand up and down her back in a comforting motion. Susannah sniffled, giving a watery laugh into his shoulder; she knew he was right, of course. But somehow she felt she was crying for something else – something much more profound and unreachable, but she couldn't figure out what exactly that was.

"I know," Susannah said quietly after a moment, after her tears had subsided a bit. Tony shifted slightly so his forehead rested against the side of her head, and Susannah felt a wave of comfort wash over her.

"…I really did have a good time tonight," she whispered after a silent moment, sniffling slightly. She felt Tony smile against her.

"I did too," he whispered gently, kissing her over her hair. Susannah exhaled and closed her eyes at the tender gesture. "I think you're amazing, Susannah."

Her heartbeat suddenly began to pound frantically. She pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes, and he looked back at her, the affection and desire clear in his expression. That look alone made Susannah's heart soar and her head spin and her panic rise all in one terrifying crescendo. She couldn't handle this – not now. This night was just getting to be too much.

"Tony…" she whispered, a fresh bout of tears threatening to spill down her face again. "Please don't… not tonight."

"Don't what?" Tony moved his hand up to her cheek so he could wipe away her tears with his thumb. "Say how much I like spending time with you?"

Susannah let out an involuntary sob. No one had ever said that to her before, and the plethora of emotion she felt was getting to be too much again. She looked into his brown eyes and felt her heart clench with an unnameable emotion; his face was very close to hers, his thumb still gently brushing along her cheek, and he slowly leaned in. Susannah's eyes fluttered closed as their lips met, and her mind evaporated in a cloud of bliss: the fear and anxiety she had been feeling were put on hold at the moment as Tony kissed her, sending goosebumps across her entire body and her mind into a wonderful tailspin. His other hand moved up to cradle her face as they kissed; mouths opening against one another, tongues caressing in sweet, tender strokes. Never had Susannah been kissed like this before – so gently, and with so much meaning behind it. Every other kiss she had ever received were aggressive and dominating, conveying her Dom's ownership of her body and her affections…

Intruding thoughts of her reality hit Susannah like a brick wall, and she slowly pulled away from Tony, unable to look him in the eye.

"You don't want to be with me, Tony," Susannah whispered after a moment, staring down at his shirt. The pain she felt upon saying that was profound, but she forced it down.

Tony didn't seem convinced. "Why not?" he asked quietly, a small smile on his lips as he gazed down at her affectionately.

Susannah sniffled, still looking down. His hands still held her face, but the warmth of his skin against hers did little to thaw the coldness within her heart. Tony deserved a normal girl – a girl who hadn't spent the last four years of her life in an alternative sexual lifestyle. A girl who didn't carry around all of this emotional baggage from her childhood. A girl who wasn't going to willingly go to her Dom's house tomorrow morning to get punished for her misdeeds.

A girl who wasn't... afraid.

"I'm a mess," Susannah murmured after a moment, blinking away her tears. No truer words had ever been spoken.

"No, you're not," Tony placated, moving his hands down so he could wrap his arms around her waist. Susannah shook her head firmly, however.

"I _am_ a mess. I have been for a long time now, and I – I…" she stammered, trying to interpret the raging emotions inside of her. "I don't want to be anymore."

It was true – right now, she would have given just about anything to not be fucked up. Tony was regarding her with overwhelming sympathy and affection, and for the first time since Sir's appearance in the bar, Susannah felt a bit calmer.

"Then let me help you," he said quietly, his eyes earnestly beseeching hers. She stared back at him, her breath catching in her throat. "Let me be the one to help you, Susannah. I want to be that guy for you."

Susannah could only stare at him as he said that. He wanted to help her… _help_ her, not as her Dom, and not as someone with authority over her, but as her equal. An equal partner with whom she could share thoughts and experiences with. Never in her entire life had Susannah wanted something more than what Tony was offering her in that moment.

She looked at him for a second before giving him a small smile, reaching up and gently cupping his cheek like he had done to her before. "I would like that too."

His relieved grin was wide and dazzling, causing Susannah to giggle. When he leaned in to kiss her again, however, she stopped him: "There's something I have to do first, though. I… I don't know exactly how it going to play out, but I promise to let you know as soon as it's all over."

Tony gazed down at her. "How long?" he asked, almost sadly, and Susannah knew she needed to give him a specific timeline.

"Next week," she said, and Tony looked at her again. "I'll call you next week. I promise."

The earnest sincerity in her voice caused him to smile down at her, reassured. "I trust you," he said quietly, and Susannah glowed. She moved up to give him a small kiss on the cheek, and Tony smiled.

Susannah didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow, or what Sir was planning to do to her, but instead of fear, she now felt a sort of cool resolve wash over her. For the first time in her life, she was on her way to experiencing real happiness because now she knew where to find it. A contract wasn't going to hold her back anymore.

Whatever agreement she and Christian Grey had was going to end tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N: Both Christian and Susannah have emotional issues stemming from their pasts that have prevented them from pursuing normal, healthy relationships. Even though they've both met people they want "more" with, their issues still hold them back. The D/s contract and their soft/hard limits is what they know, while the promise of "more" with other people is scary and unknown.**

 **So Susannah thinks Christian will punish her. What do you guys think will happen? (Hint: I know a lot of you are worried about the next chapter. I promise it won't be as bad as you think!)**

 **Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I'm delighted so many of you seem to like Susannah, especially when she's with Tony:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Saturday, 9:52 am

Escala

~Christian~

Christian didn't go to bed last night. Sleep had never been able to come easily for him, but the events from last night left him too much on edge for him to get any rest at all. When he got back to Escala, angrier than he ever believed possible, he chose to hole himself up in his office with a decanter of bourbon while snapping at Taylor to leave him alone for the night. For a few hours, his anger fueled him productively, and he was able to read over a lot of financial reports before emailing Tadashi about the final markup of their solar power project. All was said and done by about 11:30 pm, and Christian had nothing left to distract him from the reality of his situation.

He wasn't even sure _why_ he was so angry. All he knew at the moment was that he wanted to punish Susannah as much as possible for making him feel this way – like a fucking idiot who couldn't see what was right in front of him. He couldn't believe he had been so blind… the girl he was falling for was friends with the girl that was currently contracted as his submissive! What were the fucking odds?

Many horrible thoughts couldn't help but play in a loop in his mind for hours on end, burning questions he wished he had the answers to: How close were Susannah and Ana? Have they been friends for a long time? Or did they just meet at the bar? Does Ana know anything about Susannah's lifestyle? Does Ana know that Susannah is currently his sub? Christian didn't know any of this, and in a desperate bid to find some sort of answer, he pulled out his file on Susannah. He hadn't bothered to check it more than once when he had first gotten her information almost three months ago, but the answer as to how Susannah and Ana knew each other became clear the moment he opened the folder:

 _Susannah A. Richardson  
_ _Current Employment: Seattle Independent Publishing_

Of course, Susannah and Ana worked together. That at least told Christian _how_ they knew each other, but all it did was make him feel even angrier. Seriously, how could he have been so fucking blind? How could he not have known Ana would be friends with a young woman she worked with? Also, how could he not have realized Susannah worked at SIP when he signed her on as a submissive? Was he really so detached from the women he contracted that he couldn't even remember where they fucking worked?!

 _Christ, he needed another drink._ Normally, Christian would deal with this type of unrelenting stress with a good hard fuck, but that was definitely out of the question today. The only thing that would help him now would be terminating the contract with Susannah and hoping to God that, after today, last night would never be brought up ever again.

Christian really wanted to be angry at Susannah for lying to him and going to that bar last night, and he _was_ angry – just not really about that. As blatantly rude and out-of-character as her disrespect was, and as pissed off as he would be under normal circumstances, he knew he had broken the rules of the contract himself long before she did. Emotionally, at least, he had strayed from what the contract was supposed to represent – what he, Christian, had respected above all else. Ana had come along and thrown his whole world into disarray… he honestly didn't know what to think about this lifestyle of his anymore. However, Christian could at least take comfort in the fact that nothing had happened between him and Ana yet, therefore it was very unlikely Susannah knew about his feelings for her.

"Sir, Ms. Richardson has arrived," Taylor appeared at the door of his office, and Christian blinked, surprised that it was ten o'clock already.

"Send her in," Christian sighed, throwing back the rest of his bourbon. He knew he looked like a mess – he hadn't changed his shirt, he hadn't showered, and his breath reeked of alcohol. Right now, however, he just didn't give a fuck. He pulled out the contract termination form bearing his signature and set it on his desk along with a fountain pen. This arrangement's ending was long overdue.

"Good morning."

Christian glanced up and saw Susannah standing at the door. He didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't her usual submissive garb: she was wearing a somewhat nice-looking green sheath dress and open-toe pumps; her hair was straight and shiny, while her smoky-eye makeup looked like it was done professionally. She didn't look as good as she usually would have on one of their Friday nights together, but even so... the sight of her all done up like that just served to piss Christian off even more.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked, surprised at how raspy his sleep-deprived voice sounded. Susannah didn't answer; she just stared at him. Her stoic gaze, oddly enough, met his own straight on.

"Well?" Christian asked angrily. "It's ten in the fucking morning! Why do you look like you're about to go out to a club?"

Susannah raised her eyebrows at him.

"I wasn't sure what I was supposed to wear, so I brought a change of clothes," she said evenly, indicating a brown satchel she was holding. "This is what I was wearing last night. Would you like me to change into it?"

Christian wasn't expecting that smart-aleck answer. He blinked at her audacity, anger shooting up his spine – she was fucking mocking him! She deliberately didn't address him as Sir while wearing a dress that screamed submissive, and she purposefully brought up last night right to his face.

 _The fucking nerve._

"Watch it." His growl sounded gravelly and low, but Susannah didn't back down. She looked right at him, and Christian knew at that moment a submissive Susannah was nowhere to be found today.

 _Whatever. She's not going to be a sub for much longer anyway._

"You do know why you're here, don't you?"

Susannah tried to remain stoic, though a noticeable tremor shot through her body as she shifted on her feet. "To punish me?"

Christian scoffed. "You'd deserve it, especially for that little stunt you pulled last night. Did you really think I wouldn't figure out you were lying to me?"

Susannah stared at him for a moment. "You're not going to punish me?" she asked, almost nervously. Christian softened slightly, seeing that she was legitimately worried about that.

"You're insolence was completely inexcusable," he snapped, starting to pace the area behind his desk. He avoided the topic of punishment for now, but continued on with his verbal rant: "It was disrespectful, not only from a sub to her Dom, but from one human being to another. Lying about a family emergency so you can go out drinking with your friends was a completely selfish and immature thing to do, Susannah. You and I had an agreement – every weekend for at least three months you would spend here at Escala. That was the deal, and last night you broke that." Christian stopped and pointed at the contract sitting on his desk. "I can't trust you anymore, Susannah, and that's why I think it's time we terminate our contract. That is the cost of your blatant disregard for our agreement."

Susannah said nothing; she only looked at the piece of paper on the desk without saying a word. After almost ten seconds of silence, however, she finally spoke up: "You're ending our contract because I lied to you about last night?"

"Did you not hear what I said? Yes, I am!" Christian was starting to get annoyed.

She looked up at him. "So this has nothing to do with Ana?"

Christian didn't say anything – panic began to seize his brain, rendering him temporarily speechless, and he fought desperately to keep the fear at bay. The scenario he had refused to consider as a possibility suddenly and inexplicably came to light – Susannah knew everything. _She fucking knew everything_ … her little rebellion last night suddenly became abundantly clear, and Christian swallowed nervously.

" _What_?" he snapped at her after a few seconds of silent panicking. He thought it best to play up his ignorance. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, I don't care if we terminate our contract. Trust me, I'd be more than happy to sign if you want me to… but don't lie to me about the reason why you're doing this." Susannah frowned at him. "Don't preach to me about 'disrespect' and 'breaking trust' when you and I both know the trust was broken long before last night."

Again, Christian said nothing. He felt as if the legs had been cut out from underneath him, and as much as he wanted to yell and bellow and rage at Susannah for her rude bluntness, he couldn't. He could only attempt to hide his panic.

"I… I don't…" Christian stammered angrily, unable to form his thoughts coherently.

Susannah rolled her eyes impatiently, and Christian felt a blaze of anger shoot through his blood. "Yeah, I figured it out. It wasn't exactly rocket science… And before you get any ideas, no, I'm not jealous. If you want to terminate our contract over your feelings for another girl, go right ahead. You're not breaking my heart or anything."

Christian didn't say anything. This was definitely not how he planned this conversation to go; all he could do at the moment was stare at her before moving toward his window, effectively avoiding the conversation, at least for the moment.

"Hey, we need to talk about this," she said to his retreating figure. When he ignored her, she spoke up again. "Look, I'm sorry I went out for drinks last night. I won't pretend to know what it is exactly that's going on between you and Ana, but I saw that picture of you two in the Seattle Times last weekend, and I started to wonder. Then later Ana told me about when you guys met, which was right before you canceled our weekend session. And then there was Gino's last night; I mean, you'd obviously heard she was going to be there…"

"…Why don't you just sign the termination form and get the hell out of my life?" Christian overrode her angrily, unwilling to hear any more of her explanation. His gut churned faster the longer she spoke. He wished fervently she would just shut up and go away.

"Because I care about my friend, and I want to know what your intentions are with her," Susannah said firmly. "Normally, I wouldn't care about some girl you wanted to pursue, but the girl in question happens to be a good friend of mine. I want to be clear knowing what you want from her."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Christian said in a low voice. Susannah gave him a skeptical glare, however, and his resolve was fading fast.

"Bullshit," she snapped, and Christian stared at her, surprised. "I'm not an idiot, Mr. Grey. I can tell things have been changing between us over the past few weeks. We never met in person: we talked on the phone and texted excuses to one another and avoided each other so we didn't have to face the issue at hand. But not today – we're going to finish this once and for all, face-to-face. You're not going to avoid this as long as I'm here."

Boy, a submissive Susannah was definitely not in today. Christian could hardly believe this was the same girl he knew from three months ago. Although this might have been her personality every other day of the week – how the hell would he know? It's not like he held normal face-to-face conversations with her on their weekends together. Christian had never realized until now how detached he had always been from all of his submissives.

"There's nothing to discuss," Christian insisted, turning to face the window again. "Just sign the damn form and get the hell out, Susannah."

"No, not gonna happen," Susannah crossed her arms. "Not until I'm properly reassured."

"About what?" He turned to face her again.

"About Ana!" she said angrily. "What are your intentions with her?"

Christian stuttered, glaring at her. "I…"

"Do you have feelings for her?"

"That's… not…"

"You do realize she's not a sub, right?"

"YES, I KNOW!" Christian burst out angrily, overriding her. "I _know_ she's not a sub! I fucking know…!"

Unable to face Susannah anymore, Christian turned around so he was looking away. He bowed his head, reaching up and tugging at his hair, feeling restless and angry. He hated that Susannah knew this about him, that his vulnerability was making him weak. He hated the fact Susannah was friends with Ana, and that Ana probably wouldn't want anything to do with him now that Susannah would probably tell her everything. He just hated this whole fucking situation.

"I'm sorry," Susannah said quietly after a few moments.

"It's okay," Christian mumbled. He removed his hands from his hair and looked up at the ceiling, asking a god he wasn't sure existed for strength.

"You care about her then?"

Christian sighed, closing his eyes. This conversation was painfully exhausting, and he wished more than ever Susannah would just leave. "Yeah…" he mumbled again, looking out toward the window. When she still waited for him to say something, he pressed his lips together. "I don't know what it is, but I feel like I can't stop thinking about her. When I'm with her, everything just feels right. Every aspect of my life just feels more… complete." He sighed. "I feel like… I feel like something had always been missing from my life, and she's it."

Even though he wasn't looking at her, Christian knew Susannah was staring at him, probably in shock. He was fully aware of how strange that romantic speech sounded coming out of his mouth, but he wasn't about to take it back. Not when he most likely was never going to say those things again to anybody.

"Wow…" Susannah sounded flabbergasted. "I… I had no idea. I mean, I guess I had some idea, but… wow."

Christian shook his head, frowning uncomfortably. "It doesn't matter… nothing can happen between me and Ana anyway, so we might as well just drop it."

"Why can't anything happen between you two?"

Christian turned to look at her oddly. "Well… because of who I am! _You_ of all people should know what I'm like."

"Just because you're a Dom doesn't mean you can't be with Ana. I know for a fact she likes you the same way you like her."

"That doesn't matter," Christian insisted, his heart catching in his chest. "All this emotional shit might seem 'romantic' to you, but the truth is I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I keep going back and forth about Ana – first I thought I should pursue her, then I thought I shouldn't. Then I considered making her my submissive while terminating my contract with you. Then I thought I should ask her out on a date and pursue a vanilla relationship. And now, I just have no fucking idea… it's all just too complicated to figure out right now, and I'm just sick of it. I'm fucking sick of it…" Christian threw his hands up and turned away.

"It's not complicated," Susannah said firmly. "Happiness is never complicated. It's just sometimes a matter of _choosing_ happiness. If you're unhappy, and you find someone or something that makes you happy, why wouldn't you try to choose that?"

Christian turned and looked at her, frowning. "And what would you know about _choosing_ to be happy?"

Susannah stared back at him, an oddly defiant look in her eyes. She didn't answer for a few seconds, and when she finally did, her quiet answer caught Christian off-guard: "I'm walking away from you. That's how I choose to be happy."

Christian blinked, not knowing what to say to that. After a second or two of just staring at each other, Susannah turned and walked toward Christian's desk. When she reached it, she picked up the fountain pen and scribbled her name on the line below Christian's signature, effectively terminating their contract.

Susannah set the pen down and glanced up at Christian again, who was still staring at her.

"You're free to be happy now, too," she said, just as quietly, but still with that defiant air that Christian found so odd from someone he had always considered submissive.

He swallowed. "I don't know if I can be," he admitted without thinking. He felt his chest constrict with embarrassment after having said that out loud.

"You're Christian Grey. You can do anything you want," Susannah said with a ghost of a smile. Her face grew serious after a moment, however, and she looked Christian in the eye again. "Just promise me one thing… whatever it is you choose to do regarding Ana, just promise me you won't treat her like you treated me or the other women you've contracted. She's not like us – she's not submissive. She couldn't handle it. Promise me," Susannah looked almost fiercely earnest. "Promise me she's different."

Christian looked back at her and felt her sincerity, her candidness, her true dedication to her friend, and he couldn't help but feel touched. He nodded.

"I promise. She is," he said sincerely, and Susannah smiled, satisfied.

* * *

 **A/N: I hoped you all liked this chapter! I realize there are still many questions left to be answered, which I promise I'll get to in future chapters. But for right now I like to think we're moving forward plot-wise.**

 **Leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews! I'm so glad last chapter went over so well with you guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Monday, 8:32 am

SIP

~Ana~

Ana had walked into the SIP lobby Monday morning to see Claire sitting at her secretary's desk by the front door. Usually, at around this time, Claire would be talking busily on the phone, working diligently to help Marcy start her day; however, this particular morning, Claire wasn't on the phone. She didn't look busy at all, and the moment Ana walked in, Claire began to motion for her to come over, glancing around anxiously:

"Psst, Ana – c'mere!"

Ana glanced around before walking over to her desk. "Hey, what's up?" she asked curiously. Claire was looking very conspiratorial this morning, and Ana began to feel intrigued.

"There's something I want to tell you." Claire sat up straighter and leaned over the counter, her brown eyes gleaming with gossip. "I was going to call you after it happened, but I'd forgotten my phone back at home."

Ana leaned over the counter as well. "What's up?"

Claire glanced around before saying quietly: "Something's going on with Susannah."

"Really?" Ana raised her eyebrows in surprise. She glanced around in case Susannah was standing around listening. "Is this about her disappearance Friday night? I'd meant to ask you about that."

"Shh," Claire shushed her and lowered her own voice down further. "Sort of. You know how I told you she was acting kind of weird before she left the bar on Friday?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the next morning got even weirder," Claire said. Ana leaned in so she wouldn't miss a word. "After Susannah left that night, I got a bit worried about her. I thought something really bad must've happened, y'know? Something might have been going on with her brother or something, I figured. So I thought I'd drop by her place the next morning and check up on her to make sure everything was alright. So on Saturday morning, I stopped by her place with some Starbucks to see if she wants to hang out for a bit… I park out on the street by her front door, but before I could even get out of my car, I see her front door open and a woman leaving the building…"

"Okay," Ana frowned, wondering where this was going.

Claire raised her eyebrows, as if it should have been obvious. "It was Susannah."

"So?"

"So… she looked hot," Claire insisted. Ana stared at her, confused.

"Hot? As in… attractive?"

"Hell yeah! I'd _never_ seen Susie look that good! She was wearing this sexy little green number with skyscraper heels, and her hair and makeup looked like it was done professionally. Her jewelry alone looked like it cost thousands of dollars! I mean, seriously, I could barely recognize her – she looked like a high-class model going clubbing at the richest place in Seattle."

Ana blinked in surprise, trying to picture Susannah looking like that. " _Our_ Susannah?"

"Yeah! At 9:30 in the morning!" Claire's voice conveyed her utter astonishment. "But the weirdest part was just the _look_ on her face – she seemed really upset, and majorly distracted. I was in my car, barely ten feet away from where she was walking, and she didn't even see me!"

"Did she look as upset as she was on Friday night?" Ana asked with a frown, beginning to feel concerned for her friend.

"She looked _more_ upset," Claire insisted, her tone somewhere between concerned for her friend and excited over this supposed secret she uncovered. "What do you think it all means?"

"I'm not sure," Ana furrowed her brow in thought. "Susannah being upset is one thing, but why would she be that dressed up so early in the morning?"

"Maybe she's an escort," Claire joked, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "Dressing up for some rich guy… getting a little action… making a little dough on the side… What? It could happen!" she insisted with grin when Ana laughed out loud.

"Oh, stop it," she giggled, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous notion of Susannah being a prostitute. "Does Susie even know you stopped by her place on Saturday?"

"Of course not – I don't know what I would even say to her!"

"It's probably best if you don't say anything," Ana said quickly. "It's her own business, and I'm sure there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all that stuff you saw. If she doesn't want to tell us, we probably shouldn't try to get involved…"

"Get involved about what?" Marcy had suddenly appeared beside them. Claire quickly turned back to her computer, immediately getting to work.

"Nothing. Just a friend of ours," Ana said quickly. "What's up?"

"I was actually coming to look for you, Ana. Marco called me earlier this morning and said he wanted to meet with us again over at GEH today. "

"Really? How come?" Ana asked, surprised.

"Nothing bad, I promise," Marcy smiled. "Apparently there was some paperwork we forgot to sign during our meeting last week. We'll just need to pop in for a few minutes and sign the necessary forms. It shouldn't be too long."

"Oh, okay."

"I could tell Marco was very impressed with you, Ana." Marcy complimented. "You definitely showed some real potential at our meeting last week. Since we're seeing him again today, I think I ought to tell you that it certainly wouldn't hurt to establish a rapport with some of the upper management at GEH. Play your cards right and I definitely think you could go far in this company."

"…Thank you," Ana said, shocked by such praise from her boss whom she'd always been a little afraid of. "Um… so are we heading out now?"

"Just give me a few minutes to grab my things. I'll meet you back here in five."

"Okay," Ana mumbled, still trying to process what was just said to her. Marcy strode back to her office to get her things, and as soon as she was gone, Claire began to snicker.

"Wow! Look at you, girl! Schmoozing with the big bosses – next thing we know, you're gonna have Marcy's job!"

"Claire!" Ana turned to her friend, going slightly red. "You shouldn't joke about stuff like that! Especially when Marcy's hanging around."

"Oh come on, she practically said it herself," Claire rolled her eyes with a smile. "By the way, on your guy's trip to GEH today, if you happen to see Mr. Moneybags while you're there, make sure you let me in on how good he looks in his power suit. It can get pretty lonely up here at the secretary's desk, and a girl like me could use a little something to daydream about."

Ana laughed. "I'll be sure to let you in on the details," she promised just as Marcy approached with her coat and leather briefcase in hand.

"Ready, Ana? Let's go."

* * *

GEH

GEH was just as monolithic as Ana remembered. Like last time, she couldn't help but gaze around the gigantic lobby and stare at the high ceiling like the marvel of modern architecture it was. She and Marcy made their way to the security desk before heading over to the far wall of elevators, which would take them up to the executive offices on the top level.

As she and Marcy made their way into one of the crowded elevators, Ana couldn't help but wonder if she was going to see Christian here again. She had bumped into him here once before (no pun intended), but that was probably a rare occurrence. The man had an entire empire to run: he probably went on business trips every other day of the week. Traveling around the world on private jets while staying in five-star hotels and dining at the world's finest restaurants... with all of that going on, Ana doubted he had the time to spend most of his workdays in Seattle.

The elevator finally reached the top floor, and Ana and Marcy stepped off it and into the wide executive corridor. They headed down the hallway and turned left, finding themselves near Christian's CEO executive suite. His secretary's desk was empty, but standing beside the large counter and reading a file folder was the man himself. Just the sight of him made Ana's stomach flutter and her heart almost stop beating.

 _Christian_

When Ana and Marcy were within ten feet of him, he looked up and smiled slightly, quickly shutting the folder he had been reading. Ana thought he looked irresistibly handsome today – his charcoal suit and black button-down shirt paired with a woven gray tie made him look practically edible, while the look in his stormy gray eyes as he locked onto Ana made her practically weak in the knees.

"Marcy," Christian turned to greet Marcy politely when she and Ana walked up. They shook hands. "Marco mentioned you were coming by this morning. How are you?"

"I'm well, Mr. Grey. Thank you for asking," Marcy said politely, clearly trying to convey her professionalism to the big boss. "Sir, If I may introduce you to one of SIP's copyeditors, Ms. Ana Steele. Ana, this is the CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings, Mr. Christian Grey."

"No need for introductions, Marcy. Anastasia and I already know each other," Christian smiled and glanced at Ana, causing her blush to rise. "How are you, Ana?"

"I'm good, Christian. Thanks," Ana smiled, trying to ignore the look of shock on Marcy's face upon realizing Ana was on first name terms with their CEO. He chuckled.

"Marco's down in legal right now," Christian went on, turning to Marcy. "He has some paperwork you need to sign for SIP. We're actually in the process of changing Seattle Independent Publishing's name to Grey Publishing, and we need you to look over the necessary documents so we can get the ball rolling on it. Obviously, this is a big change for you guys, and there's a lot that still needs to be done within upper management before everything can be circulated into publication. Marco can fill you in on the details."

"Why did Marco ask Ana to come then?" Marcy asked with a frown.

"All of GEH's subsidiaries are undergoing management evaluations right now, and Marco needs to get feedback from an employee from each company he oversees. Since Ana had been with SIP since before GEH took over, and she apparently made a good impression on him when they last met, he figured he'd ask both of you to stop by GEH today for your respective paperwork. He thought it best to kill two birds with one stone." Christian's eyes met Ana's, causing her to blush again.

"Would you like me to wait here while you meet Marco down in legal?" Ana turned to Marcy, secretly hoping Marcy would leave so she could spend a few minutes alone with Christian. Luckily, Christian seemed to be thinking along the same lines:

"I actually have some time to spare – I could give Ana a brief tour of the offices up here while you go and look over the paperwork with Marco. It should only take about twenty minutes."

"Of course, sir. And thank you so much for taking such a vested interest in our company," Marcy shook Christian's hand with a grateful smile. Christian shook her hand and nodded before Marcy turned and walked away toward the elevators.

"Ana," Christian turned and smiled at her. He politely gestured toward his office, "This way."

The tone of voice in which he said that made Ana's lower belly clench with anticipation. She could hardly put into words how excited she was to see him again, as well as be able to spend this one-on-one time with him. Ana smiled to herself as she followed Christian into his office, and the moment he closed the door behind them, the air around them seemed to shift, as it always did when they were alone together.

Ana turned to look at him; Christian was gazing at her with gray eyes filled with what was unmistakably desire, and Ana's heart began to beat faster. He slowly walked toward her, eyes still locked onto hers, until they were barely a foot apart. He gently took her hands in his as he gazed into her eyes. Ana's breath hitched as he slowly leaned in, gently brushing his lips against hers in the barest of kisses, and Ana's eyes fluttered closed at the contact.

"It's been too long," he whispered huskily before pressing his lips to hers in a hungry kiss. Ana gasped slightly before responding, kissing him back with the same urgency he demonstrated. It was heaven, feeling his lips press against hers like this, his tongue coaxing her mouth open while moaning as their tongues met. His hands still gripped hers tightly by their waists, preventing Ana from reaching up and running her hands up his chest like she wanted to. She instead squeezed his hands back and continued to kiss him, groaning with pleasure as he nibbled at her bottom lip.

"...God, Ana," Christian pulled away after a few seconds, letting out a breath before pressing his forehead to hers. "I don't think I could ever get enough of you."

Ana took a deep breath, trying to regulate her heartbeat while sorting through her scattered thoughts. She was still trying to process what had just happened: she knew deep down that she liked Christian more than she had ever liked a guy before. She seemed to think about him all the time: how he looked, how he acted, and especially how he kissed. God, just kissing him felt amazing; it was unlike anything Ana had ever experienced before. Each kiss they shared had been passionate and spontaneous, and Ana didn't want to let that feeling go.

"I think I owe you an apology," Christian pulled away slightly and gazed down at her, gently running his thumbs along her knuckles. Ana smiled up at him and giggled.

"About what?" she asked. Christian smiled again, a slightly guilty look in his eyes.

"The forms you and Marcy came here to sign were originally meant to be faxed over to SIP," he admitted. Ana raised her eyebrows. "I talked to Marco this morning and asked him to call you guys to GEH in person instead. I think he was a bit surprised, but he couldn't exactly argue with me about it."

A slow smile began to spread across Ana's face as she realized what he was saying. "So you wanted me to come to GEH?" she asked in an attempt at coquettishness. "Why exactly would you want to do that?"

Christian gazed down at her with a tender expression on his face; he moved one of his hands up to gently tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, running his thumb along her cheek as he did so. Ana practically melted at the sweet gesture.

"I just wanted to see you again," he said quietly, gazing into her eyes with an oddly apprehensive look on his face. "…To ask you if maybe you were free to have dinner with me tonight."

Ana felt her heart soar with delight when he said that. She would have never thought a guy like Christian would ever think the same way about her that she thought about him. But the way he had just kissed her and the way he was looking at her right now removed all doubt from her mind, and she gazed up at him with a small, shy smile.

"I'd love to have dinner with you tonight."

Christian looked immensely relieved at her answer. "Great," he said after a moment, still gazing down at her with a huge smile on his face. "I'll pick you up at seven?"

Ana nodded, a big grin on her face, and he smiled back at her. Ana now felt more excited than she had felt in a very long time – she was going to see Christian again, and this time on an actual date! She wondered what she should wear…

"I can't wait," Christian murmured, still gazing at her, before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips. Ana smiled against him, kissing him back.

* * *

 **A/N: So next chapter is Christian and Ana's first date – what do you think's going to happen? Leave a review and let me know!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Once again, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I hope you like this next chapter:)**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter hints at Christian's past with Elena, which is going to be a bit different than what it was in the book. I'll try not to give away too much info right now, but Elena's influence on Christian will be just a bit different from what you might expect, and therefore she is not going to have much of a role in this story (at least for now).**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 7:00 pm

~Christian~

Christian had finally done it – he asked Ana out on a date. And he had ended his contract with Susannah. It was like this huge weight had been lifted from his chest, and never in his life had he felt so… free. Freedom was something he had rarely experienced before in his adult life: as a businessman who was often ruthless in his money-making tactics, he had never really allowed himself the freedom to be content with his life. He supposed he had felt some form of contentment – or at least what he considered to be contentment – when he was younger, before he had met Ana. His life had always been structured and ordered because that was what suited him, but from the second he had seen Ana at that café, his entire world had been flipped upside down. At that moment, he had felt something shift inside of him, and now he knew beyond a doubt that contentment could only be found through being with Ana.

In retrospect, Christian knew he should have ended the contract with Susannah weeks ago, probably the day he and Ana first met. However, the more Christian thought about it, the more he realized the reason why he had held off on ending the contract. Something had changed inside of him when he met Ana, and for the first time since he had been a young child, he was scared. He was scared of what he had felt when he first saw Ana, and of the depth of feeling he had developed for her in only a few short weeks… he was scared that he was now considering giving up the lifestyle he had always known just for the chance to be with her. He knew without a doubt this was what he wanted, and he would certainly try his hardest to be the right guy for her, but still… change was never easy, and having been told certain things his whole life would often make him doubt himself and his abilities to be with a girl like Ana.

Christian had a troubled past, he knew, and not just with submissives. He also knew he would someday have to explain to Ana the entirety of his past: his first four years of life with the crack whore, his introduction to sex when he was fifteen, and of course, that whole fallout when he was eighteen. While he would have liked nothing more than to forget all of that shit from his past, he knew one day he would have to tell Ana about it. But should he try to tell her all of it tonight? Probably not quite this soon… Christian may not have any experience with this whole wooing thing, but he could figure out when he needed to take things slow. Now was probably that time.

Christian pulled his Audi R8 up in front of Ana's apartment building about ten minutes before seven, his heart pounding in accordance with his nerves. After a lot of thought, he had opted out of having Taylor drive them to the Mile High club for their date – he wanted their dinner to be intimate and personal, and Taylor's presence, even just in the car, would most likely ruin that feeling. Christian had also changed into a white button-down shirt that was open at the collar and paired it with a black suit jacket and slacks in the hopes of looking more relaxed than he felt. The attention he paid to all of these minute details only further proved how important this night was, and how badly he didn't want to screw any of this up.

At seven o'clock exactly, Christian took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, readying himself to pick up Ana for their first date. She seemed to have been waiting for him, because just as he walked up to the front door to buzz her apartment number, he saw her step out of the building and onto the walkway toward him. She was wearing a long-sleeved black scoop neck dress while holding a small clutch purse; her long chestnut hair hung around her slim shoulders in soft waves, while her blue eyes stared at Christian with a look that made his heart catch in his throat and his brain go fuzzy. God, she was stunning.

 _Savor it now, Grey. Once she knows the real you, she's not going to want to be within fifty feet of your sorry ass._

"Hi," she said shyly when they approached each other. He grinned as he surveyed her standing before him, gazing at her beautiful dress and slender figure and her dazzling smile.

 _Gorgeous_

"Hi," Christian smiled before leaning in and kissing her on the cheek in greeting. He felt a small zing of electricity when his lips touched her skin, and he swore he heard her breath catch. He reluctantly pulled away. "You look beautiful, Ana."

"Thank you," Ana smiled and blushed. "I'm worried I'll be overdressed though. I wasn't exactly sure what to wear for tonight…"

"Don't worry about it – you look amazing. And I happen to own the restaurant we're going to, so the dress code won't apply to us."

"Wait, you own a restaurant?" Ana's eyes widened in amazement, and Christian felt a small swell of pride.

"Yup. It's technically a club, though – there are two floors, and the first floor is a dance area while the second floor is a five-star restaurant overlooking the Puget Sound." Christian stepped to the side so he and Ana could walk together toward his car.

"Wait, that sounds like the Mile High club." Ana stopped in her tracks, looking shocked. "You own one of the most exclusive clubs in Seattle?"

Christian shrugged, smirking slightly. "I don't like to brag…"

Ana stared at him for a second before laughing, shaking her head at him. "Well, If you're trying to impress me, Mr. Grey, then you're doing a very good job of it."

"I'm glad," Christian grinned brightly. He moved toward the car and opened the passenger side door for her; Ana smiled at him before leaning down and folding her slender body into the black leather interior of his R8. For some reason, her doing that was one of the sexiest things Christian had ever seen.

He quickly cleared his throat before slamming the door shut and walking around to the driver's side door, his heart beating anxiously.

 _This was finally it. His first date with Ana was actually happening._

God, he hoped he didn't screw it up.

* * *

~Ana~

Ana had been on cloud nine all day, and now that she was currently sitting in Christian's car while on their way to the restaurant (that he _owned_ ), she felt beyond excited. She still couldn't quite believe a man like Christian Grey would want to spend time with her – that he liked her enough to actually ask her out on a date! This whole situation felt so surreal, and Ana still wasn't entirely sure if she was going to wake up from this wonderful dream.

 _Savor it now, Ana. Next month he'll move on to some VS model and forget all about you._

After about fifteen minutes of driving through the city, Christian had finally pulled up to a tall, black, modern-looking building that Ana recognized from pictures as the Mile High club. Christian turned the car into an underground parking garage next door to the building, and the yellow front gate automatically opened up to allow him in. The place was entirely black, but was brightly lit by white lights running along the ceiling. There were maybe a dozen cars in the entire lot, all of them foreign sports cars of different makes and models. Ana felt like they had entered Bruce Wayne's private car lot.

"This is the gold member parking garage," Christian explained as he pulled into a spot near the elevator. "As the owner, I have an all-access pass."

He parked the car before looking at Ana and smiling. She smiled back, biting her lip slightly to try to contain her happiness. This was a mistake, however, since the smile on Christian's face had suddenly turned into a stormy look the moment she did that. He reached forward and tugged her lip free with his thumb, and his gray eyes were fixed on her mouth as he slowly traced the edge of her lower lip with his thumb. Ana's eyes fluttered imperceptibly at the sensation, and her heart began to pound harder with want.

 _Kiss me_ , she willed him desperately.

"…Come on," Christian whispered after a moment, reluctantly pulling his hand away from her. With shaking fingers, Ana unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, stepping out of the car and into the garage.

Christian ushered her onto the elevator near them, and as they rode up to the second floor together, Ana felt the air shift around them. She blushed, remembering the last time they rode an elevator together; luckily, however, Christian didn't say or do anything, and after a few seconds, they were at the second floor restaurant area of the Mile High club.

"Good evening, Mr. Grey and Ms. Steele. Welcome to the Mile High club."

The large, softly lit area was packed with people – all beautiful, upper-class men and women carrying champagne flutes while wearing thousands of dollars' worth of clothing. If Ana was feeling overdressed before, she felt incredibly under-dressed now: the dress she was currently wearing was the nicest she owned, yet she doubted it was worth even a fraction of what some of the women here were wearing. Christian didn't seem to mind as he placed a hand on Ana's lower back and led her through the restaurant toward the back.

The waiter who had greeted them ushered them through the dining room and opened the door to the private suite, stepping aside to allow them through first.

"Your private parlor, Sir – Ma'am. And here are your menus. Would you care to start out with some wine this evening?"

"Yes, we'll take the red 1997 cabernet sauvignon. The whole bottle, if you will. And two glasses of mineral water," Christian said without hesitation, and Ana smiled to herself. Christian was definitely a man who knew what he wanted.

"Very good, Sir," the waiter nodded and smiled at the both of them before departing, closing the door quietly behind him. For some reason, as Christian watched the man leave, his face turned into a stony grimace.

"What is it?" Ana asked him, frowning at his expression as he pulled out a chair for her to sit down at the table. Christian shook his head, his features still etched in a scowl.

"Nothing. Just that waiter."

"What about him?" Ana giggled in confusion as he took the seat adjacent to her. He shrugged.

"I don't know…"

A few moments later, the waiter returned with a cart bearing their wine and mineral water. As she watched the waiter place their drinks at their table, Ana began to figure it out… Christian was jealous! The guy had smiled at Ana with what she figured was just polite professionalism, but Christian was glaring at him as if he were openly leering at her. Ana had to try to contain her amusement: Christian seemed to have taken that look the waiter gave as overt flirtation, which was absolutely ridiculous, of course. But Ana couldn't help but feel a little pleased that Christian liked her enough to get jealous over her.

When the waiter began to take their dinner orders, Ana reached over and gently took Christian's hand in her own on the tabletop. Christian looked at her, surprised at the sweet gesture, and his grimace instantly relaxed into a genuine smile. He squeezed her hand back before turning back to his menu and ordering the veal Bolognese. Ana opted for the shrimp scampi, and the waiter then left the private parlor to fill their order.

Christian asked Ana about her day, the pretty soon, the two of them had fallen into easy conversation. Ana had never thought Christian was a difficult person to talk to, but she would have been lying if she said she wasn't just a bit worried she and Christian wouldn't be able to find anything to talk about. That definitely wasn't an issue, however, as she and Christian filled the time waiting for their food to arrive chatting about everything and nothing.

"This pasta is delicious," Ana said appreciatively as soon as their food arrived and she took a bite of her scampi. Christian made a noise of agreement after tasting his Bolognese.

"Do you want to try some of mine?" Christian asked, holding out a forkful of the noodles and marinara sauce from his own plate toward her. Ana leaned forward and took his proffered food, wrapping her lips around his fork before slowly pulling away; his food tasted delicious, and Ana made noises of appreciation while she chewed. Christian didn't take her stormy eyes off her the entire time, and Ana soon picked up her fork to offer him some of her shrimp scampi. He grinned at her before taking the bite of shrimp and alfredo she was offering him, looking at her in a way that made her blush.

Pretty soon, the two of them were sharing food off each other's plates and laughing and enjoying each other's company as if they had been doing this sort of thing forever. Before Ana knew it, though, hours had passed, and Christian finally suggested it was time they headed home since it was a work day tomorrow. When they stood up to leave, Christian politely took her hand as they walked together toward the main dining area, which was much emptier than before.

"Christian, thank you so much for bringing me here," Ana turned to him once they were in the elevator together. "I never in a million years thought I would have ever seen the inside of this restaurant, and it was so much more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. You've really made tonight special for me."

"It was my pleasure, Ana. I had a very enjoyable time too… I don't think I've ever enjoyed having dinner at my club as much as I enjoyed having it with you."

"So you haven't enjoyed eating dinner with all the beautiful women you bring here for dates?" Ana teased, although she secretly wondered how many other women he had asked out to dinner here.

"I've never brought another woman on a date here before, Ana. You're the first," Christian said sincerely, and Ana gazed up at him. "I don't really date much. A guy like me isn't cut out of the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing, and I usually just tend to avoid the dating scene altogether."

Ana didn't know what to say to that, so she opted for silence as the elevator doors finally opened to the gold member parking garage. They stepped out together before Christian turned to Ana and took her hand.

"Ana, I didn't mean to imply I didn't consider our dinner tonight a date, or that I wouldn't consider taking you out again in the future," he said, and Ana just looked up at him. "Quite the opposite, in fact – I had a wonderful time tonight, and I hope you had a good time as well. I would love to see you again, if that's alright with you."

Ana smiled and nodded. Oh yes, she definitely wanted to see him again. "I'd love to see you again, Christian."

Christian smiled, looking mildly relieved. "Great. I'll call you in a few days, alright?"

Ana agreed, still smiling, and the two of them walked over to his Audi R8 so he could drop her off back home. Unlike during their dinner, the whole ride back to her place was silent. However, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, and Ana found herself gazing out the passenger side window lost in her thoughts. She thought about Christian and their date tonight and how amazing everything was… but she couldn't help but wonder. Had he really never brought a woman to his restaurant before? Was he really so closed off that he just chose to avoid the dating scene altogether? He clearly had a lot to offer a woman – why would he choose to cut himself off? And if that was the case, why did he ask _her_ out? What did she have to offer him that made him want to get into the dating game, something he admitted to never doing or wanting to do before?

"We're here." Christian's voice pulled Ana from her thoughts, and she noticed they had arrived at her apartment complex. She turned to Christian, who was looking at her with an expression that made her heart pound and her legs go weak.

"Goodnight, Ana," Christian said quietly. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek tenderly. Ana closed her eyes, allowing the feel of his lips and the sweet touch of his hand to wipe away her questions about him for the time being. After a few seconds, she pulled away, not without gazing into his gorgeous gray eyes with a smile that lit her face.

"Goodnight, Christian."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, everybody! Christmas was totally hectic for me this year with family and traveling and all that fun stuff. And that new Star Wars movie wasn't going to watch itself three times in a row either.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated since last year! (*ahem*). Anyway, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Hope you all like this new chapter:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Wednesday, 9:32 am

SIP

~Susannah~

"Hello? Excuse me?"

Susannah glanced up from her computer to see a delivery guy approaching their desk area, carrying a huge bouquet of white roses. Everyone in the vicinity stopped and stared.

"What the…?" Jerry, the HR rep, stared with his mouth open.

"Oh my God!" Stephanie, one of the associate editors, gasped at the sheer size of the bouquet.

"Delivery for Ms. Anastasia Steele," the delivery man read from his clipboard. Everyone turned to stare at Ana, who blushed.

"Um… that's me," she said, standing up to allow him to set the bouquet on her desk. "Sorry, I thought deliveries were supposed to be brought to and signed by the secretary."

"Usually they are, ma'am, but the secretary at the front desk told me to bring them straight to you," the man explained, setting the flowers where she indicated.

"Well, let me at least pay you something for your trouble…"

"No need, ma'am. The tip was already taken care of," he said with a smile before turning to walk away. "Have a nice day."

Ana watched him leave while the other office workers immediately began to gush loudly about her beautiful new flowers. She turned to the bouquet and picked up the attached card just as Claire and a few other ladies from the office crowded around Ana's desk to gape at her roses.

"These are gorgeous, Ana!" Karl from accounting grinned, examining a rose. "Who are they from?"

"It doesn't say," Claire said, reading the card from over Ana's shoulder. "It just says 'I know I said I'd call, but I think this is a much better method of communication. Friday night, 7 pm – I'll pick you up. See you then xox'."

All the ladies and Karl simultaneously went _ooooooh!_ , causing Ana to blush even more.

Susannah simply watched everything from her desk with a huge grin on her face. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this thrilled: her contract with Grey was officially over, she was finally free to see whoever she wanted, and Ana had just received a beautiful bouquet of roses from Grey, demonstrating his newfound attachment to her. Life simply couldn't be better at the moment.

When Susannah had gone to Escala on Saturday, she hadn't planned on confronting Grey in such an aggressive manner (not really, at least), but she needed to find out what his intentions with Ana were. If Susannah had thought for even a second that Grey wanted to turn Ana into his submissive, she definitely wouldn't have been okay with the two of them being an item – she would have straight up told Ana everything about their lifestyle, her NDA and self-respect be damned. Fortunately, however, Susannah became convinced that Grey honestly liked Ana, and just wanted to pursue her in a purely vanilla sense… the huge bouquet of white roses he had just sent to her in a beautifully romantic gesture seemed to confirm that fact, and Susannah couldn't stop smiling at it. Yes, she had definitely made the right choice, and everyone seemed much happier because of it.

"Did you see my flowers, Susie?" Ana asked, pulling Susannah from her thoughts. The other office workers except Claire had finally disbursed.

"Of course she has – why do you think she's smiling so much?" Claire piped up before Susannah could respond.

"I thought she was just thinking of Tony Finn again," Ana raised her eyebrows, and Susannah rolled her eyes amusedly. "The two of you seemed to really hit it off on Friday night – wouldn't you say, Susie?"

"Back off," Susannah smirked, pretending to focus on what she was doing on her computer. "Don't you have a book to edit or something?"

"Ooh, she's getting defensive." Claire moved over to sit on the edge of Susannah's desk. "I think she's hiding something."

"No I'm not," Susannah said quickly.

"Oh, really?" Claire crossed her arms and stared beadily at her. "So where were you Saturday morning?"

"Claire!" Ana chastised immediately, and Susannah's heartbeat began to race. Did Claire know something she wasn't letting on?

"None of your business," Susannah frowned at her, and Claire narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Leave her alone, Claire," Ana insisted, and Claire acquiesced. She stood up to leave.

"I'm only joking, Susie," she said with a reassuring smile. "You and I both know you wouldn't do anything _unsavory_."

Claire turned and walked away, and Susannah watched her retreating figure with a very confused look on her face.

"Ignore her – she's just being weird," Ana shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I think she gets bored sitting at the secretary's desk all day."

"Hm," Susannah agreed, though she still frowned to herself. She pressed her lips together and turned back to her computer.

"But you and Tony – that's actually happening, isn't it?" Ana asked, and Susannah glanced up at her.

"I'm not sure yet," she shrugged after thinking about it a moment. "We had fun on Friday night and everything, but I don't know if he wants to hang out with me again. I guess we'll see."

Ana gave her a sardonic smile. "Oh come on. Admit it – you like him!"

Susannah turned to look at Ana with a small smile on her face. "Okay… I'll admit I like Tony when _you_ admit Christian Grey sent you those flowers."

Ana's eyes widened in shock, and Susannah suppressed a laugh. After a moment, Ana let out a small giggle.

"You'll get nothing out of me," she said defiantly, although the huge smile on her face told Susannah precisely what she had already deduced.

"Nor me," Susannah said, just as defiantly. Ana simply laughed and shook her head.

~/~

The rest of the morning passed quickly enough, with Susannah editing the last few chapters of Mr. Kenna's book. The man was a decent writer, and Susannah liked how his story had progressed so far, but she was growing a bit frustrated at his blatant disregard for the style sheet she had written up for him. They had agreed weeks ago on him not using the serial comma and instead maintaining additional semicolons, and yet here was his manuscript with so many commas Susannah didn't know what to do with. This sort of finicky frustration was one of her least favorite things about being a copyeditor, and the tedious process of going through the manuscript and fixing these minute errors only added to her irritation.

At noon, Susannah was able to get away from work and she went into the break room to eat lunch by herself. She was glad that she could have some time alone for at least a few minutes – she had been hoping all day for a chance to be by herself so she could steel herself to do what she had promised herself she would do sometime today.

She had avoided calling Tony so far this week, unsure as to whether or not things had progressed with Grey and Ana to the point where Susannah felt free to pursue something more with Tony. Grey was sending Ana flowers at the office now, and Susannah suspected they already had dinner together at least once, so that gave Susannah enough reason to finally call the guy whom she had been thinking about nonstop since Friday night.

Pulling out her cell phone, and feeling a combination of nervousness and excitement, she dialed Tony's number.

Susannah knew he worked long hours at the store, so she wasn't surprised her call went straight to voicemail. She cleared her throat.

"Hi Tony, it's Susannah," Susannah said the moment she heard the telltale beep. "I'm sorry to call you when you're obviously busy, but I said I'd call you this week… so I guess this is me calling you this week." She let out a nervous giggle. "First of all, I wanted to thank you for Friday night. You… helped me calm down when I was upset, and you made me feel better, which I truly appreciated. So thank you." Susannah paused for a moment before taking a deep breath: "I'm sure you're wondering why I seemed to have that meltdown outside of Gino's that night, and I want to talk to you about it if you're willing to listen. I was hoping we could meet up sometime later this week, though I understand if you're busy… if it's easiest for you, maybe we could get together at Finn's Corner sometime this weekend? If you wanted to go somewhere else, though, I completely understand – just give me a call some time before Saturday so we can figure out the details."

Susannah hesitated at this point, wanting to say so much to him. She wanted to tell him how much he'd done for her in the short time they've known each other, but she didn't. She instead let out another small nervous giggle before finishing the call: "Um… I probably should be getting back to work now, so… um… give me a call back, and I'll talk to you later, okay? Okay… bye Tony."

Susannah hit the end call button before releasing the breath she had been holding. Her heart was pounding rather fiercely against her ribcage, and she pressed her lips together in an attempt to quell her anxiety – after all this time, she was finally taking the steps toward having a normal relationship with somebody. It was a good feeling, though one that terrified her nonetheless. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, or if there was even a future in store for her and Tony. However, she did know deep down in her heart that she couldn't have stayed with Grey as his submissive, with or without Ana coming into the picture.

Susannah had a few minutes left on her break, so she decided to finish up her peanut butter and jelly sandwich before heading back to her desk. Just as she finished and stood up to throw away her paper lunch bag, however, her cell phone began to ring. Susannah didn't have to check the caller id to know who it was, and she suppressed a giggle at his obvious eagerness to return her call. Quickly tossing away her trash and brushing her hands clean, she walked back to her table and picked up her phone, a large smile on her face.

"Hi Tony."

* * *

~Ana~

"Claire, what are you doing?"

Ana had just finished up her lunch, and she walked back over to her desk area to see Claire hanging around by herself. She was standing near Susannah's desk, and her demeanor immediately made Ana suspect Claire had just been rifling through it frantically.

"Nothing," Claire said quickly, straightening up and trying to look innocent.

"You're going through her things!" Ana's voice rose angrily, and Claire quickly tried to shush her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Be quiet – Susannah'll be back any minute," Claire insisted, sitting down in Susannah's desk chair and opening one of her drawers.

"You have got to stop this," Ana stepped toward her friend and glared at her, crossing her arms. "Susannah hasn't done anything wrong! It's bad enough you made her uncomfortable this morning by asking her those stupid questions, but now you feel you have to go through her stuff at work? You seriously need to back off on this, Claire!"

"Susie's hiding something," Claire said firmly, not backing down. " _You_ didn't see the way she looked on Saturday morning! She didn't look right... I'm doing this for her own good."

"Right," Ana rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Claire didn't say anything since she was now rifling through a stack of manuscripts and manila folders beside the desk lamp. When she didn't find anything there, she turned to Susannah's pencil case and started digging through that.

"What are you even expecting to find?" Ana snapped after a few seconds. She refused to just stand by and watch Claire to go through her friend's stuff– she needed to put a stop to this. "Get away from her things, or I'm going to tell Marcy…"

Ana paused when she saw Claire suddenly hold up a piece of jewelry – an absolutely beautiful pink and silver bracelet that sparkled under the fluorescent lights. Ana frowned at sight of it: what on earth was Susannah doing with such a gorgeous piece of jewelry like that hidden in her desk?

"Oh my God," Claire breathed, examining the bracelet closely. "Ana, these are real diamonds! All of them – even the pink ones! And the silver chain… I think it's made of platinum!" She looked up at Ana with wide, shocked eyes. "This bracelet is worth a fortune! Five thousand dollars, at least!"

Ana could only stare at her. She didn't question her estimation of the bracelet's worth, seeing as Claire understood jewelry better than most people understood breathing, but Ana was just shocked to see the bracelet at all. She felt a small, uncomfortable weight settle on her chest – was Susannah really hiding something from them all?

"This was what I was trying to tell you!" Claire said eagerly, holding up the bracelet. "When I saw Susie on Saturday, she was wearing really expensive clothes and jewelry… this bracelet must be a part of a secret wardrobe she has or something!"

"It's just a bracelet, Claire," Ana said quietly. "I'm sure she wears it at work from time to time. What's the big deal?"

Claire looked unconvinced. "Ana, how many people do _you_ know that can afford jewelry this expensive?"

"It might've been a gift."

"From who? Bookstore Tony?" Claire shook her head. "Something is definitely going on with her, Ana, and this bracelet is proof."

Ana didn't say anything – she hardly even knew _what_ to say. She sighed and turned back to her desk. "Put the bracelet back where you found it, Claire, and don't say anything. I have to get back to work."

"But –!"

"But nothing. This was never any of our business, and if we don't back out now, we're going to get in a lot of trouble. I'm serious, Claire – just drop it. If you don't stop snooping around Susannah's things, I'm going to tell Marcy what you're doing."

Claire said nothing, but after a moment, reluctantly turned and put the bracelet back in the pencil case where she found it. She turned and walked back to her desk without another word, and Ana was left to sit in SIP's annex by herself.

Ana gazed at Susannah's desk next to hers, and let out a small, melancholy sigh. She wished more than anything Claire just never found out all this information… Ana hated the idea of her friend hiding something from everyone and living a secret life. The idea was just a tad unsettling, and she didn't want to linger on it.

Ana comforted herself with the thought that maybe Susannah wasn't hiding anything after all, and this was all just a big misunderstanding. It made her feel better enough to focus back on her work for the time being.

* * *

 **A/N:** **We're getting closer and closer to the good part, so stay tuned! And in the meantime, please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews guys! I see a lot of you seem to be really upset with Claire and what she did last chapter, and that's understandable. I assure you, however, that her role was simply to make Ana question Susannah's truthfulness and not to potentially use the information she found to blackmail Susannah and Christian later in the story as a few of you have speculated.**

 **Hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Saturday, 11:25 am

Kate's apartment

~Kate~

The muffled stains of "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse began to play from Kate's bedroom, and she could just barely hear it while finishing up her morning shower across the hall. She immediately flung open the bathroom door while grabbing a towel to quickly cover her nakedness, and she rushed across the hall to retrieve her ringing cell phone within the cluttered mess of her bedroom.

"Hi baby!" Kate found her phone and quickly answered it, brushing strands of wet hair away from her face.

"Hi Katie!" Elliot greeted, sounding relieved to have finally reached her. "Where were you? I've been calling for like twenty minutes."

"Sorry, I was in the shower. I had a late start to my morning." Kate turned around and padded back over to her bathroom to find another towel to wrap her hair up in.

"Mm, so you're all naked and wet right now?" Elliot practically drooled, and Kate giggled.

"Let's save the sexy talk for our nighttime Skype sessions, okay babe? It's still feels too early for me."

"Ugh, I hate business trips," Elliot groaned. "Being away from you for a whole week just plain fucking sucks."

"You'll be back Wednesday night," Kate said comfortingly. "I'll pick you up from the airport and everything." He didn't say anything to that, and so Kate went on, "So how's the weather in LA?"

"Beautiful, sunny, and warm… and I can't enjoy any of it," Elliot whined. "All I can think about is being back in Seattle with you."

"You're such a softie, Mr. Grey."

"I know. I hate it," Elliot sighed miserably, and Kate giggled. "So tell me… what's been going on with everyone in Seattle?"

"Well, I think you'd be happy to hear that Christian and Ana went out again together last night," Kate grinned excitedly. "I even heard he'd sent her a bouquet of roses to her office a few days ago."

"Seriously? My brother did that?" Elliot's mopey mood quickly vanished, and he let out a laugh. "Wow, he's really got it bad!"

"Well, I know Ana likes him, for sure…" Kate said, but then hesitated. Something had been bothering her about Christian for a while now, and she finally decided to voice her concern to Elliot: "I know I don't know Christian as well as you do, and you said that your brother didn't do things like court women and go on dates and stuff, but are you absolutely sure? I mean… I don't know, I guess I always just got a bit of a weird feeling around him. Like he's secretly a player pretending to be interested in girls like Ana or something."

"No, that's definitely not the case," Elliot said immediately. "Trust me, as a former player myself, I know how they like to operate – my brother is definitely not the kind of person who's that devious. Also, I told you before that Christian had a lot of emotional issues growing up and that he's always been a bit weird."

"What emotional issues?" Kate frowned, slipping on her fluffy pink bathrobe and walking into her kitchen to make coffee. "I've met your whole family, and they're all wonderful. His childhood couldn't have been _that_ horrible, could it?"

"His birth mother really did a number on him," Elliot said sadly. "Apparently, she was a crack addict and died of an overdose when Christian was only four years old. I don't really know many of the details, but Christian was in pretty bad shape when the authorities found him with her body."

"Oh my God…" Kate whispered, pausing in the middle of spooning coffee grounds into her filter. She suddenly felt nauseous. "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"Yeah, life had really dealt him a shit hand of cards," Elliot sighed. "Growing up, I didn't think he was ever going to get over it. My parents had him see a bunch of psychologists and specialists, but nothing ever seemed to help him. He got into a bunch of fights at school and even got expelled from a few places. And then there was the whole –"

Elliot suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence, as if afraid he had said too much. Kate frowned.

"What is it?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this," he mumbled after a second. Unfortunately, this only piqued Kate's curiosity.

"Talk about what?" She set down her coffee mug and leaned against her kitchen counter, listening intently.

There was a long pause on the other end before she heard Elliot let out a deep sigh. "I haven't talked about this stuff in years, Katie. I mean…shit, when we all found out about it, it was just awful. Fuck, I'll never forget the look on my mother's face when she found out the truth…"

"Elliot, what is it?" Kate asked, feeling nervous despite herself.

"When Christian was eighteen, we all found out he had been having an affair with one of our mother's friends. A woman named Elena Lincoln," he explained, and Kate's breath froze in her chest. "Apparently it had been going on for over three years, and when he finally told us…"

"He told you about it?"

"Yeah, he came clean to our parents about a week or so after his high school graduation. I was away at university at the time, so I wasn't there when it happened, but I sure as hell heard about it. I'm not really sure why he decided to come clean about it then, but after he did, everything just went to shit. My father filed a lawsuit and restraining order against Elena, the police got involved, and Christian ended up having to go to court to give his testimony."

"Oh my God…" Kate brought a hand up to her mouth, feeling nauseous once again. "He was only a kid! The affair started when he was fifteen?"

"Yup, and Elena was thirty-five. And married." Elliot sounded just as disgusted as Kate felt.

"God," she whispered under her breath. "So what happened next?"

"Well, after my dad filed the lawsuit, Elena's lawyers pled not guilty, so the whole thing went to court. The trial lasted for a few months, with Elena's lawyers making all kinds of crazy claims for her actions, like she was secretly an alcoholic and therefore not responsible for her actions, or that the affair was somehow at Christian's instigation. Can you believe that shit? None of that evidence held up in court, obviously, so Elena was eventually found guilty of child molestation."

"Good!"

"Yeah. But the weird part was, while the whole affair was apparently going on, Christian didn't seem like he was doing all that bad. He stopped getting into fights, he studied harder and got straight A's… it was like he was all better." Elliot paused for a second before letting out a morose sigh. "We should have known it was that bitch who was messing with his mind… I guess at the time we were all just so relieved he was getting better…"

"It wasn't your fault, Elliot," Kate said immediately. "What happened to Christian was awful, but you couldn't have known something like that was going on with him. Do you know what it was exactly that Elena did to him that changed him?"

"Christian never mentioned it. He had told our parents about the affair and gave his testimony in court, but aside from that, he never really went into detail about it. Not that I'd want him to," he added darkly. "After all that shit went down he left Seattle, got into Harvard business school, started his company, and basically acted like the whole thing never happened."

"And what happened to the Elena woman?"

"Oh, her whole life went to shit," Elliot said, sounding unabashedly satisfied. "After the ruling, she was slapped with a half million-dollar fine and a six-month prison sentence. Her husband, of course, divorced her when he found out about the affair, and by the time she finally got released from jail, everyone in town knew what she did. All of her 'friends', my mother included, didn't want anything to do with her anymore, so she was basically shamed out of the city. Last I heard, she was running a small salon in Vancouver and barely scraping by."

"Wow," Kate muttered after a moment, trying to take in all this new information.

"Kate, you can't tell anyone about this. Especially Ana," Elliot sounded earnest. "The police already know and there's a record of it, so it's not exactly a secret, but this is something Christian needs to tell Ana himself. I know my brother, and I know he never mentioned the affair again after it happened only because he's always struggled with talking about his past. If he really does want to be with Ana, he'll feel like he needs to tell her about it eventually… but it has to come from him and no one else."

"You can trust me, Elliot," Kate said sincerely. This was definitely an issue she didn't want to get messed up in, especially since it involved her friend. "I won't say a word about it, to Ana or anyone else. Although I can't promise I won't give your brother a big hug the next time I see him."

"He'd hate that," Elliot chuckled, almost sadly. "He hates being touched by anyone – just another one of his many issues."

"What if Ana touches him?" Kate asked, raising her eyebrows. "Every time I see him around her, he looks like he doesn't want to keep his hands off her."

"I guess." Elliot sounded a bit skeptical. "These have been lifelong problems for Christian, though, Kate. I doubt he would suddenly be cured just because he's fallen for a girl."

"Oh, I dunno…" Kate started to smile coquettishly. "Love can make us do a lot of things we never thought we'd want to do."

Kate could practically hear Elliot's smile through the phone. "I suppose that's true," he conceded, and Kate grinned. "I can't wait to see you again, Katie."

"I can't wait either," she sighed. "Four more days."

"We can make it. I believe in us."

Kate giggled, feeling her heart pound with affection for her boyfriend. "I believe in us too."

"Good," Elliot said happily. "Skype session at 8?"

"I'll be there," Kate grinned, and she was sure Elliot was smiling too. "Love you."

"Love you too, Katie-bear. See you tonight."

* * *

~Susannah~

October had finally begun, and the weather reflected that – the sky above was a clear, periwinkle blue, while the cool autumn air bit at Susannah's exposed skin as she walked along. She and Tony were currently walking together down the sidewalk, having just spent the entire morning at a breakfast diner in Montlake. For almost three hours, the two of them talked – or rather she talked, and he listened – and afterward decided to get some fresh air by taking a stroll around the neighborhood. The two of them walked side-by-side, hands shoved in their jacket pockets while not saying a word to each other. Susannah knew Tony was thinking about what she had just told him, which wasn't surprising considering the amount of information she had just unloaded onto him. She was just glad he hadn't left after finding out about her past – he had been pretty quiet all morning, only speaking up when he had a question to ask her. Thankfully, throughout the whole conversation, Tony had given Susannah no indication he wanted to get up and leave because of what she told him, and she was at least grateful for that.

They walked past a small park where children were running around and playing giddily, and Susannah watched them as she and Tony passed by. While a small part of her still worried if Tony was now repulsed by her, oddly enough, she felt very serene and calm. It was cathartic, finally being able to talk to someone about her past and the emotional issues she'd always struggled with – while she hadn't gone into detail about the specific men she'd been involved with (she was still bound by NDA's after all), she was still able to talk about the lifestyle and about why she always felt she needed it. She only hoped Tony wouldn't be horrified by her unloading on him like that, and would at least give her a chance.

At the end of the day, that was all she really wanted. A chance.

When they reached the corner of the block where they had to cross the street, Tony automatically reached for her hand, and Susannah couldn't help but smile. They quickly crossed the busy road together, and when they got to the other side, Tony still hadn't let go of Susannah's hand. They continued to walk along together, fingers interlocked, for about a minute before Tony finally stopped and turned to her. He looked nervous, and Susannah watched him with a small amount of apprehension.

"Susannah, I meant it when I said I wanted to be the guy for you," he said earnestly, and Susannah looked at him, her heart pounding in her ribcage. "What you told me back at the diner, I… I can't say I was expecting you to say… what you said… but if that's the kind of thing that you need from me, then…"

"It isn't, Tony," Susannah overrode him firmly. "I told you about my past because it's something you deserve to know – not because it's something I want with you."

"But you said it's your lifestyle…"

"It's not – not anymore. I've been wanting a change for a long time. Even before I met you, I knew I wasn't happy with the life I'd been leading," Susannah let out a small sigh. "I finally feel like I have a chance for a fresh start, y'know?"

Tony stared at her for a second before a small smile began to creep onto his face. "So… that's what you want with me? A fresh start?"

Susannah blushed, glancing down at her feet. She really wasn't good at this whole 'sharing her feelings' part of vanilla relationships. "Yeah… I mean… as long as it's what you want too."

"It is," he said without hesitation, and Susannah looked up at him to see a dazzling grin on his face. Susannah couldn't help the small swell of hope she felt upon him saying that.

"Really? Even after everything I just told you?" she asked, but immediately regretted it. What if he changed his mind?

"Yes," he said firmly, looking her in the eye. He gave her hand a small squeeze. "Your past is your past – while I may not be totally comfortable with it, there's not really anything I can do to change it. I already told you that I think you're amazing, and I still believe it." Tony gave her another smile, his brown eyes shining. "You might have a past, but if I have a chance to be a part of your future, I'd consider myself the luckiest guy on earth."

Susannah's heart stopped, and she suddenly couldn't wait one more second: she stepped forward, grabbed his lapel and kissed him, not caring that they were standing on a busy sidewalk in the heart of Seattle with people all around them. All she could focus on was how amazing it felt to have Tony's lips press against her own while wondering how on earth she had been fortunate enough to meet a guy like him.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm hoping to have a little Christian/Ana next chapter, so stay tuned for that!**

 **So now we know a bit more about Christian's past. What do you think? Did you like the alterations I made? Leave a review and let me know!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! Some drama is in store for this chapter, so look out!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 9:45 pm

~Ana~

A third date… Ana was a bit embarrassed to admit she had never actually been on a third date with a guy before. She had had a couple blind dates in college, but they never ended up being a love connection. She also had had a boyfriend back in high school, but Paul had never actually taken her on what she would consider _real_ dates. They would go to the movies together or hang out with friends at the park – it was all good fun, and their relationship eventually went to the next level when Ana decided to give him her virginity. She and Paul were seventeen at the time, and after a night of hanging out at his friend's house, ended up doing it in the backseat of Paul's parent's Dodge Dart. It was a cramped, uncomfortable, and embarrassing experience neither of them wished to recreate, and consequently led to their break up that summer before senior year. Ana was upset about it at the time, and it probably did contribute to her reluctance to date throughout college, but over time she did get past the pain. And she was so grateful to have met Christian at this point in her life – he really was the kind, smart, and amazing man she had been waiting for for a second chance at love.

Her and Christian's date tonight had once again exceeded all her expectations – he had taken her to the restaurant up on the Space Needle, and their table had been right up against the window, where they could see Seattle laid out beneath them in all its brightly lit splendor. It was amazing, and Ana could only gaze out at the beautiful city landscape in delight as she and Christian enjoyed their meal together.

Christian seemed happy and engaging throughout most of their date, but Ana couldn't help but be a bit concerned about him. Just like during their last two dates, Christian kept making odd, enigmatic allusions to his past, mentioning how he never did things like go out on dates or court women. Ana couldn't bring herself to overlook these little comments of his – they were very worrying to say the least. He would never explain _why_ he didn't do these things, which led her to believe he was probably hiding something from her. What was it that he didn't want her to know? Was it bad? Ana tried not to think about it too much, though, and instead attempted to focus on the beautiful restaurant around her, the delicious meal in front of her, and the gorgeous CEO she was currently on a third date with.

At around 9:30, they decided to call it a night, and Ana suddenly felt nervous. Wasn't the third date supposed to be the date where two people had sex for the first time? She and Christian hadn't talked about it, but Ana assumed that that was where their relationship was inevitably going to go. Ana liked Christian more than she had ever liked any other guy before, and the idea of having him in bed tonight was incredibly appealing to say the least. There had to be a conversation between them before it happened, though, and based on the expression on Christian's face as they made their way down to the street level together, Ana knew he knew it too.

"Would you like to come over to my place?" Christian asked when they reached his car. Ana watched him run a hand through his hair nervously. "There's, uh… there's some things I want to talk to you about, and I was hoping we could do it tonight."

He didn't elaborate, and Ana was feeling nervous again. "Sure," she nodded, and gave him a small smile which she hoped made her look more relaxed than she felt.

Christian smiled back at her; a handsome, boyish grin that made him look younger than his twenty-eight years. Ana's heart clenched as she gazed at him, and she couldn't help but feel hopeful that whatever it was he had to tell her wouldn't be that bad.

"Let's go." Christian opened the car door for her, and Ana stepped in, her mind going over what he wanted to talk to her about. He seemed a bit worried, which concerned her a bit, but she was sure that whatever he had to tell her wouldn't change her feelings toward him…

It wouldn't… would it?

* * *

~Christian~

God, Christian couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous. He was about to explain his lifestyle to Ana – his playroom, his contract, BDSM, all of it. He would hold off on explaining the more brutal aspects of his past and his connection to Susannah for the time being (since those would be some other fun conversations to look forward to in the future), but he was still reluctant to talk about his sex life with Ana. He had always kept his lifestyle very firmly under wraps, for fear of the media getting ahold of that information which would paint him in a bad light and quite possibly ruin his company. However, Ana deserved to know everything about him – that beautiful, sweet, innocent angel needed to know what she was in for.

They drove in silence, arriving at Escala sooner than Christian would have liked. He pulled into the private underground lot that contained his other Audis, and walked with Ana over to the elevator which would take them up to his penthouse. They stood side-by-side as the elevator brought them up, but the turmoil currently pervading Christian's mind and senses prevented him from being able to focus much on the beautiful woman beside him.

The elevator doors opened, and Christian stepped into the foyer, ushering Ana out with him. She slowly walked forward, staring at the massive room around her with a look of awe. Christian couldn't help but smile when he led her into the great room and she got a glimpse of the Seattle skyline through his window.

"Christian, this place is beautiful!"

"Thank you." He couldn't help but smile as he watched Ana take in her surroundings. Despite the uncomfortable conversation he knew was about to come, he liked the fact she was here with him right now.

It felt comfortable and… right.

"Would you like a glass of wine?"

"Sure," Ana turned and followed Christian over to the kitchen, where he retrieved a bottle of red shiraz.

"Do you like this sweet wine? Or do you prefer a dry?"

Ana blushed cutely. "I'm sorry, I don't really know much about wine or what kinds are good. I guess whatever you pick is fine."

Christian couldn't help but smile as he poured them each a glass. "You don't need to have a sophisticated palate to enjoy good wine, Miss Steele. Wine is like a piece of art – in the end, it's not about the price tag, it's just about what you enjoy."

 _And I enjoy you_.

"Very philosophical, Mr. Grey," Ana giggled, accepting the glass of wine he handed to her. She took a sip, and her eyes lit up. "Mm, that's very good."

Christian smiled, taking sip while not taking his eyes off her. He didn't know how to begin explaining to her why he brought her here, and there were a few awkward seconds where neither of them said anything as they silently sipped at their wine.

"So…" Ana said after a minute. "You said you wanted to talk to me?"

"I did," Christian said uncomfortably, but didn't elaborate. He felt Ana's eyes on him.

"Is this regarding all the times you've told me that you 'don't do the dating thing'?"

 _Astute as ever, Miss Steele._

"Ana…" Christian sighed, frowning to himself. He wished he had some idea as to where he should begin.

"Christian, you don't have to tell me," Ana shook her head, frowning uncomfortably as well. "It's only been our third date. We have plenty of time to talk in the future…"

"No, Ana," Christian said firmly. "You need to know this – before we move forward with whatever it is that we have going right now, I need to be straightforward with you about my past. It wouldn't be fair to you if I wasn't."

Ana stared at him, looking more worried than he'd ever seen her before, which was probably a good thing since she'd be braced for what he was about to tell her.

 _Here goes nothing_.

"Ana, I know I've said this about a million times in the past week or so, but the fact is that I really have never done this sort of thing before. I've never gone out on dates, or took time out of my schedule for romance. It's something I've never been interested in before because… for all my adult life, I've been involved in an alternative sexual lifestyle."

Ana blinked, staring at him. She was silent for a moment. "What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it sooner, but it's not necessarily something I like to advertise…" Christian began apologetically.

"Wait, hold on," Ana held her hand up, interrupting him. She frowned. "What do you mean by 'alternative sexual lifestyle'?"

Christian took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of BDSM?"

Ana stared at him for a moment. Christian thought her face had gone slightly paler, and he became more anxious. "BDSM? Like… like S&M?"

"Basically," Christian eyed her warily. "I'm a Dominant, and whatever woman I would contract would be my submissive."

Ana frowned at him. "You would have a relationship with this… submissive, then?"

"A sexual relationship, but nothing more than that. She and I would agree to meet on certain days, usually on weekends, and then she and I would engage in… our particular preferences," he finished uncomfortably.

Ana blinked again, speechless for the moment. "You… you would… tie up and beat these women?" Her voice quavered a bit, and Christian's heart lurched.

"Sometimes, and only with their consent," he said. "I would never hurt my subs beyond what they could handle. That's not the point of BDSM. It's just a sexual preference – these women like being controlled, in the same way that I liked to control. It's a power exchange, essentially, and stipulations and limits would all be laid out in a special contract we would form together to protect ourselves from any real physical harm."

"You would have contracts with them?"

"Yes, that's how I would conduct all my relationships with my submissives. Our sessions would take place on predetermined days and always have to be done discreetly with limits in place. There would always be both a standard non-disclosure agreement as well as a contract for them to sign: the NDA would be in place to protect myself from exposure to the media, and the contract would be to outline the rules and limitations of our agreement."

"What rules and limitations?" Ana asked quickly.

"The contract would outline both my and my submissive's hard and soft limits. There would be certain things that we would agree upon, certain… sexual acts we would agree not to explore because we would be uncomfortable with them."

"Is that it?"

Christian sighed. "It would also outline how a sub needed to behave around me. She was required to be quiet, demure, and respectful; she would have to address me as 'Sir' or 'Master'. She would wear the clothes I picked out for her, eat the food from a proscribed list, and exercise a certain amount of times per week."

Ana looked shocked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Christian had the decency to look ashamed. "It was all about the power exchange – these women enjoyed being told what to do, and I enjoyed the power it afforded me. This power play was the nature of our relationship. Nothing more, nothing less."

Ana looked quite shaken. "Is this… power play the kind of relationship you want with me?"

"No! God, Ana," Christian said earnestly. "This is what I'm trying to tell you – I've done this for so long because it's all I've ever known, but the moment I saw you I knew I wanted something more with you. I already know that this contract is something you didn't need, and I'm completely fine with that."

"You are?" Ana still looked a bit doubtful.

"Ana, I've struggled with my feelings for you so much these past few weeks," Christian said with the utmost sincerity. "I've never been so captivated by someone in my entire life – the moment I saw you at that coffee shop, I knew you were different, and I haven't been able to get you out of my head since then. I knew at that moment that all the preconceived notions of my past relationships would no longer apply, because what I could potentially have with you would be so much better than anything I've ever had before."

Ana looked touched by his words, but still seemed to question their truthfulness: "So you knew, immediately, that you wanted something more with me? Just like that?"

Christian hesitated. "I'll admit, I… struggled with the idea of having a type of relationship with you I wasn't accustomed to. For a while I was pretty confused about my feelings, and to be perfectly honest, I had considered making you my submissive. But that idea passed pretty quickly the more I got to know you."

"You did want to do this with me, though?"

"At first. I told you, this lifestyle is pretty much all I've ever known – the thought was obviously going to cross my mind. But the more time I spent with you, and the more I got to know you, the more I realized I would only be kidding myself if we pursued only a Dominant/submissive relationship."

"But Christian, you said this lifestyle was all you've ever known." Ana frowned, looking confused and hurt. "How can I ask you to just give all that up for me while ignoring a fairly significant part of your past?"

"You're not asking me to give up anything. I already told you, this is something I've spent weeks thinking about, and I know I want to try with you."

Ana glanced down at her hands, still looking upset, and Christian gazed concernedly at her. She was having a difficult time digesting this, which was understandable under the circumstances, but he wasn't going to give up just yet. "Ana, this isn't easy for me," he said quietly, and she looked up at him. "And I know it's difficult for you to hear, but it doesn't change my feelings for you. It doesn't change the fact that I will do whatever it takes to make this work." He looked at her apprehensively. "Do you still want to make this work?"

"Of course I do, Christian," she said immediately, and Christian felt much lighter. "But I'm just wondering if 'making this work' will involve me being more submissive to you."

Christian stared at her. That was the last thing he expected her to say – she was actually considering following the D/s contract for him? He had assumed Ana would be repulsed by everything regarding his lifestyle, therefore he would be the one who would have to change is modus operandi. But could there really be a middle ground?

"Ana, I don't want to ask you to do something you're uncomfortable with…" Christian began, but Ana firmly shook her head.

"No, this is your lifestyle – it's been a part of you for a long time, and if you're making all of these sacrifices for me in order to be with me, then it's only fair I try to meet you halfway. I can't promise I'll be comfortable with everything a submissive is supposed to do, but I'll try. I will."

Her voice quavered a bit as she spoke, but she still seemed determined, and Christian couldn't help but be amazed. The fact that Ana would be willing to do this for him floored him completely, and he was touched beyond words. He leaned forward and kissed her, pressing his lips firmly against hers, reveling in the feel of her soft skin against his. She kissed him back, gently placing a hand on his jaw.

"You never cease to amaze me, Ana," Christian whispered, and he felt her smile tremulously against him. "I know we'll find a way to make this work. I just know it."

Ana nodded, though something in her manner still seemed worried. She stepped back and glanced over toward the elevators. "I... should probably get going soon. You've given me a lot to think about."

"Hold on a minute," Christian said. He turned and hurried down the hall toward his office, and a few moments later, came back in the kitchen with a copy of the D/s contract. Ana stared at it as he handed it to her.

"Is this your contract?" she asked, holding up the paper questioningly.

"Yes, but not for you to sign," Christian explained. "It's just for you to glance over, and to get a better understanding of what the lifestyle entails. If you want, I can recommend some websites and articles for you to check out too."

"Okay," she said quietly, her eyes glued to the contract. Christian reached forward and tilted her chin up so she'd look at him.

"Hey," he murmured, and Ana blinked. "If you don't want to do this, that's okay. We'll figure out something else…"

"No, this is your lifestyle, and I said I'd try," she said firmly, projecting more confidence than what she probably felt. "I do want to try."

Christian smiled before leaning in and pecking her softly on the lips. "Well then, I'm free Wednesday night around eight if you want to talk. We can have dinner here and discuss through this whole thing a bit more."

Ana nodded, smiling gently up at him. "Sounds good."

Christian smiled before leaning in and kissing her again, this time with more passion and feeling behind the kiss. He wanted Ana to know how much he appreciated her thoughtfulness and consideration for his lifestyle. She truly was an angel, and he knew beyond a doubt they would figure out the right way to do this. Never had Christian felt more hopeful about his future – he just knew they would make this work.

 _We'll find a way._

* * *

 **A/N: So... did any of you see that coming? Before you all take out your pitchforks, however, just know that there's a reason for all this, and there will be a happy ending in store for CG and AS. Just hang tight!**

 **Please review:)**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I hope you all like the progression of this chapter:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Tuesday, 11:44 am

GEH

Christian's office

~Christian~

Never was there a time when Christian remembered feeling this happy or more at peace. He knew there were many reasons for this shift in his mood – the fact that he had just told Ana about his lifestyle and she didn't go running for the hills definitely contributed to it. He had expected her to be completely repulsed and angry when she learned of his predilections, and she did seem a tad put out at first, but she then shocked him completely by accepting the reality of his situation and even offering to try it out a little for him. He was touched (and, honestly, quite a bit relieved) that she was willing to do this for him – even though he knew he potentially wanted more of what he would consider a 'normal' relationship with Ana, he still felt a little daunted by the idea of turning his back on the lifestyle completely. This way, it could work for both of them, and that idea made Christian happier than he had been for a long time.

Even though he could let himself dwell on thoughts of Ana all day, today was turning out to be a busy one, and Christian was forced to focus completely on work. He had flown down to Portland at 6 o'clock this morning in order to meet with the WSU farming division head for a couple hours before flying back to Seattle and holding a 9:30 meeting with the Canadian liaisons from his northeastern division. That meeting ended about 15 minutes ago, and Christian was now preparing for his next meeting with Cat, his director of administrative affairs, about an employment issue that required his attention. He had about 10 minutes to himself right now, however, and took the time to look over spreadsheets in preparation for the meeting. It wasn't even noon yet and he longed for this day to be over already.

Christian's intercom buzzed, and without looking up from the financial report he was reviewing, reached over and hit the speaker button.

"Yeah?"

"Sir, Ms. Richardson is here to see you."

Christian paused in his reading before looking up and frowning at the intercom. Cat's last name was Kowolski, not Richardson.

"What was that?"

"A Ms. Richardson is here to see you, Sir." Andrea repeated.

Christian paused again, suddenly realizing who she was talking about. "Susannah Richardson?"

There was a shuffling sound on the other end. "Yes, Sir."

Christian blinked, his shock preventing him from saying anything for a second or two. What was Susannah doing at GEH? And why the hell was she visiting his office in the middle of a work day? Was something going on with Ana? Demanding Andrea tell him the reason why would most likely arouse suspicion, so he didn't – he just told her to let Susannah in, his curiosity preventing him from sending her away like he knew he should've.

Christian had quickly texted Taylor in the security wing to get to his office immediately when he saw his door open and Susannah walk in, looking professionally put-together in black slacks and a green button-down shirt. Christian knew they were in an office setting, but he couldn't help but think how odd it was not seeing her sporting a cocktail dress by Chanel or Badgely Mischka.

"Hello Mr. Grey," she said politely.

Christian got up and strode past her to shut the door behind her. "What the hell are you doing here Susannah?!"

"It's good to see you too."

"I'm serious – why are you showing your face around here? Did anyone see you?" Christian grabbed her by the arm and roughly pulled her away from the door.

"Ow! Relax, your secretary thinks Marco sent me," Susannah snapped impatiently, tugging her arm out of his grasp. "In case you forgot, I do in fact work for you. You should really keep a record of that or something."

"Very funny," Christian glared at her. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to have a lunch meeting with Marco and a new author here at GEH today, but the author just called to cancel. My hour's free now, so I thought I'd stop by your office for a few minutes so we could have a talk."

Christian furrowed his brow at her. Was she kidding?"You honestly think you can just waltz into my office in the middle of the work day for a chat? I'm a CEO, Susannah – my time is extremely valuable. And I'd rather not people think I'm associated with you in any way."

"We need to have a proper discussion regarding Ana," Susannah said, unfazed. "And since I'm here anyway, I feel now's as good a time as any."

"Are you serious?" Christian asked incredulously. "One of my department heads is coming by any minute now for a meeting. Can we do this some other time? Preferably over the phone?" he added with a scowl, turning and walking back over to his desk. Susannah followed him.

"I won't be too long." She stopped in front of his desk. "I just wanted to know how much you've told Ana so far."

Christian let out an exasperated sigh – he really wasn't going to get rid of her anytime soon. "I haven't told her about you and me yet, if that's what you're worried about."

"But she does know? About… your past?"

"Yes, she does know," Christian said shortly. When Susannah didn't say anything else, he moved around his desk to sit in his chair. "Is that all?"

"Were you still planning on telling her? About us?" she asked after a moment, and Christian looked at her. What was she getting at?

"Not unless you wanted to do it," he said with frown.

Susannah hesitated again, looking unsure about what she was about to say. She seemed like she was seriously struggling with her thoughts. "What if…" she paused, glancing down at her feet, and after a moment's hesitation, she finally spoke: "What if neither of us told her?"

Christian stared at her, frowning incredulously – was this why she wanted to talk to him? He couldn't believe it – she didn't want to figure out how they were going to approach the topic with Ana, she just wanted to try to avoid it altogether! Christian suddenly leaned forward, glaring at her.

"Susannah…" he began warningly.

"Just think about it," Susannah said quickly. "We wouldn't be lying to her, technically… we would be keeping something from her that'll do nothing but upset her. What good would it do if we did tell her?"

"What good would it do if we kept it from her?" Christian snapped. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation right now.

"Telling her the truth about us would only make us feel less guilty, and nothing else!" Susannah continued insistently. "Do you really think Ana's going to be happy that we told her the truth? I guarantee you, she's going to start questioning everything about you and me. She's going to be hurt and upset, and she's likely going to think something's going on between us, even though nothing is!" Susannah paused before sighing and looking down at her feet, shaking her head dispiritedly. "She's going to hate me."

Christian stared at Susannah for a second before softening slightly, seeing how upset she really was about all this. He wasn't happy about this whole situation either, but he really didn't think withholding the truth from Ana was the answer.

"I don't want to hide things from her," he said emphatically. "Especially since it's regarding my past. She's never going to trust me if I try to hide something like this from her and she finds out about it later."

"I know, but it's not just about that," Susannah sighed. "Ana doesn't know anything about my involvement with BDSM or my past issues, and if this is how she's going to find out…" Susannah hesitated, shaking her head and grimacing. "She's my friend, and I sit next to her every day at work. Even if she's not too upset about my history with you, she'll still know about my own… history. She's never going to look at me the same way again."

"It's a shitty situation," Christian conceded. "But I think there can be a right way to do this."

"There is," Susannah agreed stubbornly. "We don't tell her!"

"Susannah…" Christian began angrily.

"Do you have feelings for me?"

Christian blanched. "What?"

"Do you have feelings for me?" Susannah repeated firmly. Christian gaped at her, anger coursing through his veins. Why the hell would she even ask him that?

"No!" he insisted, his heart beating uncomfortably hard.

"Great, I don't have feelings for you either. As far as I'm concerned, _this_ –" she gestured between them, "– never even happened! So why is it so important for Ana to know about it?"

"Stop it," Christian got to his feet, glaring at Susannah. "Don't patronize me with stupid-ass questions like that just to prove a point! We are going to tell her, and that's final – I told you I am not going to lie to her!"

"Fine!" Susannah snapped just as Christian's intercom buzzed. He kept his eyes on her as he hit the speaker button.

"Yeah?"

"Sir, Ms. Kowolski is here for your 12 o'clock meeting."

"Thanks Andrea. I'll only be a minute."

He unclicked the speaker button, still looking at Susannah. She was glaring at him, her hands on her hips, unflinching in her resolve. After a moment, Christian let out a breath.

"Look – I'm not going to tell Ana about us if you're not on board with telling her too, but I'd really rather not wait too long before we do tell her. Can you at least just think about it?" Christian hated the fact he was practically begging her, but he honestly didn't know what else was to be done.

Susannah brought her hands off her hips, softening as well. "Okay," she agreed grudgingly. "But I still think I'm right."

Christian shook his head, walking back around his desk to lead Susannah out of his office. "You know, I think I liked you better when you were submissive."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm not anymore," she retorted, turning around and walking toward the door as well. Christian frowned, surprised by her response: was Susannah not in the lifestyle anymore or something?

"Have a good day Susannah ," Christian said, stopping next to her at his office door. "And please, try to call before you drop by my office unexpectedly next time."

"No promises," Susannah smirked slightly. "I'm sorry I'm being difficult about all this, but I'm just trying to look out for Ana. I hope you understand."

"I do."

"I'm actually really happy you two are together." Susannah went on, sounding sincere. "Ana seems to be much happier than she was before she met you, and you definitely seem a lot happier too. You guys are good for each other, and the fact that you up and walked away from the lifestyle for her…" Susannah shook her head. "That took a lot of guts, and I have to say I'm impressed. I really think that you and Ana could go the distance if you really worked at it."

Christian felt an uncomfortable feeling fill his chest at her words, but chose to ignore it. "Thank you. Now get out before I tell your boss you decided to skip out on work today."

Susannah laughed before finally walking out of his office. Taylor, who had been standing right outside the door, was given a subtle nod by Christian to escort her to the elevators. Christian watched them walk away, feeling glad that he and Susannah finally had a talk about Ana, but also feeling another strange emotion that he couldn't quite place…

 _He hadn't walked away from the lifestyle._

But he had… hadn't he? Ana had agreed to try out aspects of BDSM for him, but aside from that, he was basically pursuing a normal, vanilla relationship with her. Right?

Christian suddenly realized he felt a bit guilty – perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick to agree with Ana's offer to try the lifestyle out for him? Maybe he was nervous about letting go of his past, which was why he didn't fight her that much when she insisted on doing this for him? Perhaps he shouldn't have agreed to her compliance after all...?

"Good afternoon, Mr. Grey."

Cat had walked into his office for their meeting, and Christian was forced to forget his conflicted feelings for the moment. He figured he would be meeting Ana for dinner tomorrow night anyway, so they could talk about the contract and his lifestyle a little more then.

God, he hoped he hadn't screwed this up already.

* * *

SIP

~Ana~

Thoughts of the contract had been weighing heavily on Ana's mind since last night, when she had found out the truth about Christian's proclivities. She could honestly say she wasn't expecting that to be his secret at all – she'd figured he had issues, but assumed it was some past trauma or residual baggage from a bad relationship or something. The last thing she expected was for him to tell her he was involved in a lifestyle she barely even knew existed.

It was odd to think of Christian in this way: the man she had come to know and adore over the past few weeks was involved in this borderline sadistic sexual lifestyle. And not only that, but it was all he'd ever known. How was that even possible? And what was so different about _her_ that made him want to try for a regular relationship, especially at this point in his life?

Ana didn't know, but she didn't have time to ponder about these questions too much as she currently worked on a manuscript at her desk, only occasionally leaving to ask her coworkers questions about formatting and stuff. Ana really tried to focus entirely on her work today, because the more she thought about the contract, the more she began to regret the decision she'd made regarding it.

She had told Christian that she'd try to incorporate aspects of the lifestyle into their relationship because that was what seemed fair. He was making sacrifices in his personal life for her, so it only made sense that she would try to reciprocate. Ana had been a bit nervous about making this change for him, but at the time she was confident the two of them could still find a suitable middle ground.

However, when Ana looked over the contract more thoroughly last night before bed, her confidence began to deteriorate. Some of the things Christian required of his submissives were… disturbing, to say the least. Ana knew that she didn't know much about the lifestyle, and she honestly tried to keep an open mind while reading the contract, but it was very difficult. She not only struggled with the thought of doing some of these sexual acts with Christian at some point, but also with the idea of the behavioral modifications she was meant to adopt around him. Christian required his submissives to be meek and demure, to speak only when spoken to, and to comply with his (the Dominant's) every whim, no matter what. And if she couldn't follow these rules perfectly, she would be punished. All of these requirements, even the easier ones, felt a bit extreme – how on earth were they going to find a middle ground in all this?

Ana's conscience weighed more and more heavily on her as the day progressed, because the second thoughts she was having on what she agreed to do began to fill her brain and slowly cause her to panic. The thought of BDSM freaked Ana out more than she cared to admit, but she had already agreed to try it out for Christian. Backtracking on her promise now would make her a crappy person and a bad girlfriend.

Ana stared unseeingly at her computer screen… perhaps these second thoughts she was having about all of this were a sign that maybe she and Christian just weren't meant to be after all?

She quickly shook her head, not wanting to dwell too long on these dark thoughts. They were just too depressing to focus on right now.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry to end this chapter on a sad note, but that's the way it goes sometimes.**

 **Some more drama in store for next chapter – but in the meantime, review!**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I read some very interesting and diverse comments/opinions about the issue Susannah raised last chapter – you all had some very good points. Hope you guys like this next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Wednesday, 5:00 pm

SIP

~Ana~

Ana felt awful. The entire day leading up to their date she had been thinking, rethinking, and overthinking Christian's contract. It was like an earworm, constantly digging around in her brain and making her feel worse and worse the more she thought about it – she wanted to do this for Christian, she really did. She wanted to be what he needed. But if she was being completely and totally honest with herself, she didn't think she could do it. She honestly didn't think she had what it took to follow through on this whole submissive thing.

There was nothing else to be done. After much deliberation and internal debate, Ana had decided to bail on dinner tonight with Christian.

She knew that flaking out on their date was probably just as bad as having second thoughts about their agreement, but Ana honestly didn't know what else to do at this point. All she knew at the moment was that she couldn't face Christian tonight at dinner, and she would need at least a few more days in order to get her conflicted thoughts together before speaking to him again about it.

Therefore, right before she was supposed to be done with work for the day, Ana had slipped out into the back lot of SIP's business park in order to call Christian to cancel their date. With her heart pounding and her stomach churning uncomfortably, she dialed his number, hoping against hope he wouldn't be too upset by what she was going to tell him.

Her call went straight to voicemail. He must have been in a meeting or something, and Ana couldn't help but feel a touch relieved she wouldn't have to speak to him directly. When she heard the beep, she began to talk:

"Hi Christian. You're obviously busy at the moment, so I guess I'll just leave a message for you. It's about dinner tonight…" Ana took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Look, I know we have a lot to talk about regarding the contract, and I really do want to discuss these things with you at some point, but right now I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about them. I know, I'm sorry for doing this to you kind of last minute, but I honestly think it's for the best. This is all still very new to me, and I want to make sure we do it right. I'll give you a call later this week when I feel more ready to talk about all this…"

Ana hesitated, wanting to say more, but not really sure what else could be said. Therefore she ended with, "Okay, I'll see you later. Bye Christian," before hanging up, still feeling rather upset, but (she felt guilty admitting it to herself) a little relieved at the same time.

Ana walked back into her office building, thinking over what she had just said in her voicemail to Christian. She liked to think she believed what she said to him – that she just wanted to take a few days to gather her thoughts before talking to him. She knew that she didn't want to break up with Christian – that wasn't what that phone call was about – but at this moment she was just hoping to take a few days and gain a little perspective. It had been difficult trying to find the words to convey her trepidation to him, however, and she hoped he wouldn't be too upset by her suggestion for a few days apart.

"Hey, you finished up for the day?" Susannah asked once Ana had come back to her desk. Everyone was leaving for the day, and Susannah was standing by her desk, pulling her coat over her shoulders while shutting her computer down.

"Yeah," Ana sighed, turning to find her bag to pack her manuscripts in. "Just about. You got any plans tonight?"

"No, just going home and finishing up a light edit. You?"

"Nothing much," Ana said, not looking up from packing her bag. Her gut wouldn't stop churning with unsettled feelings, but she tried to ignore it. Flaking out on one date with Christian was better than potentially freaking out on him about the contract tonight, right? That's what Ana kept telling herself, at least.

She thought about what her night was going to be now, however, and felt a heavy sort of sinking sensation in her gut. She really didn't want to spend the entire evening alone, evaluating her thoughts and feelings over the whole contract issue. What she wished she had something to distract her…

Suddenly, an idea lit up in her brain, and she quickly glanced over at Susannah: "Hey, did you want to come over to my place tonight?"

Susannah stopped packing her things and looked at Ana, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I have some work to get done tonight too. We could make a whole thing of it – we'll get some wine, order food, and watch Netflix while judging our authors' writing… it'll be fun. What do you say?"

Susannah stared at her for a second before grinning fully, looking thoroughly surprised and flattered by her offer. She and Ana had never really hung out alone after work before, so this was a nice surprise. She let out a short giggle, "Okay, then – sounds like fun! Did you want me to bring anything?"

"If you wanted to bring the alcohol, I could cover the food. There's a great little pad thai place down the street from my apartment that does take out."

"Awesome. I'll just run by my apartment to change and pick up a few bottles of wine. I'll meet you at your place in an hour?"

"Sounds good," Ana smiled, and Susannah smiled back. She waved goodbye before moving toward the front office doors and leaving for the day.

Ana smiled slightly to herself before turning back to her desk and finishing up packing her things. This was exactly what she needed right now: just a relaxing night in, hanging out with her best work friend, drinking some cheap wine and watching TV. For one night, she could just forget about the contract and Christian, and focus more on herself and what she wanted to do. By tomorrow morning, she would be less upset and more focused on what she was going to do regarding Christian.

She hoped she would, at least.

Just as Ana had started walking out of the office, thinking about what movies she and Susannah could watch tonight, her cell phone began to ring.

Her heart thudded loudly when she glanced at the caller id and noticed who was calling: it was Christian.

"Hi," she answered the phone, her voice sounding quieter than usual.

"Hi." Christian, on the other hand, sounded almost winded, as if he were struggling with his words. "I'm sorry, I was in a meeting… I just got your voicemail."

"Yeah, I figured," Ana mumbled. The guilty feeling in her gut grew. "Look, I'm sorry for bailing on you last minute, but…"

"Are you breaking up with me?" He overrode her immediately. Ana's breath froze in her lungs.

"What?" she asked quickly, her heart thumping erratically. "No, of course not! Why would you say that?"

"You're pulling away," Christian said, his voice shaking with distress, and Ana's heart just about broke. "We were supposed to have dinner tonight, and you canceled last minute. What else am I supposed to think?"

"I'm not pulling away, Christian…"

"You are."

"I'm not! I said I just needed a few more days to think about our compromise," Ana said insistently. "Like I said, this is all still very new to me, and I feel I need more than just a day to think over certain aspects of the contract." Ana's voice had risen as she spoke, and she quickly glanced around the foyer, making sure no one else was around and listening to her conversation. "I swear to you, I'm not pulling away," she finished more quietly.

Christian let out a distressed sigh, and Ana could picture him running his hand through his copper hair. "Ana, you mean so much to me. I can't even tell you, I… I don't want to have screwed everything up already."

"You didn't! I told you, I wanted to compromise with you about the contract, and we will. I'm just taking a few more days to think it over because I want this to work. I want _us_ to work."

"Because you don't think we work now?"

Ana let out a small sigh. Why did he have to view this so negatively? "No, I think we _do_ work, but I want to make sure we keep working in the future." There was a short pause where Christian seemed to be absorbing her words, and she continued: "You mean so much to me too, Christian, and I don't want to have screwed it up either. Call it being extra cautious, but I feel the best thing for me right now is to just try to recalibrate and figure out exactly how we're going to move forward from here."

Christian sighed again. "Ana, I feel like I should have never shown you that contract – it was stupid of me, I'm so sorry…"

"Christian," Ana overrode him firmly. She didn't want to hear him say that – it would be too painful if he were to take it back later. "We can talk about it in a few days, alright? I think we both could use a couple days just to recalibrate and figure out exactly what we want. It'll be better this way."

Christian didn't say anything for a moment, but Ana knew he was considering what she said. "If that's what you want," he said hesitantly. "Then that's what we'll do. But can I call you on Friday?"

Ana couldn't help but smile – despite her conflicted thoughts about his contract, Christian could be really adorable sometimes. "Sure. Friday sounds good."

"Good," Christian let out a small, relieved sigh. "We can talk then?"

"We can talk then."

"Okay," Christian sounded a bit happier. "I guess I'll see you on Friday."

"See you Friday."

There was a short pause. "Goodbye Ana."

Ana smiled. "Goodbye Christian."

There was another short pause, and neither of them hung up yet. Ana's smile grew wider. "Hang up."

She could almost hear Christian's smile on the other end. "No, you hang up."

"You can't tell me what to do," Ana joked.

Christian chuckled, but there was almost a melancholy sound to his laugh. Ana could guess what he was thinking about. "I'll see you on Friday, then?"

"Yeah. See you Friday."

"Bye Ana."

Ana glanced down at her feet, pressing her lips together tremulously. "Bye Christian."

And she hung up before she could convince herself not to.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is a little short** **er, but it's leading up to something bigger. I promise!**

 **So what do you think of Ana's decision to postpone her and Christian's date? I'd be interested to hear what you all think!**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Here's the next chapter for you (Spoilers: drama ahead!)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Wednesday, 8:45 pm

GEH

~Christian~

In the couple hours after his and Ana's phone call, Christian couldn't really bring himself to focus on work anymore. He tried – he really did – but nothing seemed to help take his mind off her, and he finally had to contend with the fact that he was completely useless at the office now. There wasn't much for him to do anymore today anyway, and whatever else he might've needed to do could've been passed off to Ros or one of his department heads. That was the nice thing about being the big boss – his ability to delegate.

Christian called Taylor to let him know he wanted to leave for the day, and he packed his briefcase with various files and reports to bring home. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was packing, since his mind kept straying to the beautiful brunette angel who had canceled their date for tonight. His chest constricted uncomfortably at the thought.

He was shocked when he listened to her voicemail earlier in the evening; he had gotten the sense before that she was nervous about pursuing a relationship with him involving aspects of the Dom/sub contract, but he didn't realize that it was worrying her so much that she felt she needed a few extra days to think it all over. He figured that twenty-four hours was more than enough time for her to think through some of it, but he thought she just wanted to consider what parts of BDSM she was comfortable incorporating into their relationship. The fact that she needed a few extra days to "recalibrate" as she put it made Christian legitimately worried – it really did sound like she was rethinking their relationship so soon after it had begun.

Ana had insisted she wanted to try out aspects of BDSM for him, and while Christian would honestly feel more comfortable sticking to the thing he was most familiar with, he was afraid he was going to lose Ana in the process. The feelings he had while listening to her voicemail earlier today were unlike anything he had ever experienced before in his life; panic, fear, horror and heartbreak all filled his heart and chest, and it had paralyzed him to the spot. He had called her up right after on the verge of a nervous breakdown, preparing himself for her to end things with him right there over the phone. The mere thought of her leaving him had made his chest constrict and his head pound loudly with panic, and it was with a profound sense of relief when he realized she wasn't going to leave him. She explained to him more thoroughly her reasoning for wanting a few extra days apart, and Christian reluctantly accepted it, hoping against hope this wasn't the beginning of a slow, deteriorating end to their relationship…

Because the idea of Ana leaving scared the absolute shit out of him.

Christian had never before experienced this pervasive fear of a woman leaving him– in the past, women had walked out on him plenty of times. Hell, he had pretty much come to expect it at this point: like when Susannah had walked out on him, he had felt nothing but a sweet sense of relief. But with Ana it was different, as everything else was with her. He had never really thought about it before tonight, but life without Ana – the mere idea of not being able to enjoy her beautiful smiles or her gorgeous blue eyes anymore – was one of the most awful things he could imagine. If she hated him and decided to leave him for giving her that contract, he didn't think he could handle it. His mind had gone to dark places before, but this was a whole new territory of darkness. If it wasn't way past his office hours, Christian would've seriously considered going to see Flynn right now, because the worry and panic he was feeling went beyond anything he had ever experienced before in his life.

Christian sighed as he headed out of his office and toward the elevators, waiting to go down to the parking garage where Taylor had pulled the car around. The GEH building was mostly empty now, since it was almost 9 o'clock, but staying this late at the office was nothing new for Christian. And since he wasn't currently having dinner with a certain gorgeous brunette, he had figured staying late and getting some work done at the office was his next best option.

One of the elevators finally opened to admit him, and Christian smiled slightly to himself when he realized it was the very same elevator which he and Ana had had their first… encounter in, so to speak. He walked in, still smiling to himself – he wondered how on earth he had been so out of control of his own inhibitions that day to have done that with Ana when literally anyone could have walked in. It was insane and thoughtless and completely irresponsible. And yet…

Christian doubted he had ever truly experienced a more passionate moment in his entire life when he and Ana had kissed here. It didn't matter that they were in a public elevator and had barely spoken two words to each other at the time – the attraction between them was already so strong that they couldn't resist one another in the moment.

Passion… that was the word to describe it. Christian had only ever associated passion with sexual arousal, but with Ana, he knew the true meaning of it. Passion was unhindered, unrestrained affection – it was the deep, all-consuming emotion that wrenched his soul in two and made him a new man…

Passion was what he felt for Anastasia Steele. And passion was what he had been trying to force down by giving her that contract...

Christian blinked as the truth of his situation suddenly hit him like a freight train: he didn't want the contract with Ana. The contract was the last thing he wanted with her – he wanted the passion, the unhindered emotion, the _fire_ he had felt like when they made out in this elevator. He had never experienced these feelings before, but Ana seemed to have brought them all out to the surface. That was why he wanted to pursue her in the first place – because she was different to him, because she made him feel things he had never felt before.

Ana was nothing like what Christian expected, yet she was everything he never knew he wanted…

"Sir?"

Christian hadn't realized the elevator had reached the parking garage and opened to reveal Taylor standing right beside the front door of the car. Christian blinked before finally stepping off the elevator, still reeling from his sudden, crystallizing realization:

 _He didn't want the contract with Ana._

"Taylor, we need to make a quick stop."

* * *

Ana's apartment

~Susannah~

"I've always found the serial comma to be the most annoying thing about the editing process," Susannah said as she took a bite of curry chicken.

"Really? I always thought it was the authors," Ana muttered sardonically, picking at her rice noodles, and Susannah giggled. The two of them had been hanging out for a couple hours now, lounging around on Ana's couch while binge-watching The Office on Netflix, chatting over their dinner of thai food in takeout boxes. Susannah had brought along three bottles of red wine from home, which she and Ana had almost completely polished off at this point. They weren't exactly drunk yet, but they definitely had a bit of a buzz going.

"No, seriously," Ana insisted, bringing her wineglass up off the coffee table rather harshly. "Before working this job, I had no idea how much trouble some of these authors were going to be! My author right now, Cynthia Cormann… is a _bitch_." She mouthed the last word, causing Susannah to laugh again.

"Maybe you should quit," Susannah suggested, giggling as she took a sip of wine.

"Maybe _you_ should quit," Ana countered.

"If you could work anywhere in the world, where would it be?" Susannah asked after a moment, and Ana leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes and thinking.

"Mm… at home," she muttered after a minute, smiling to herself. "I'd wake up at ten, have a cup of coffee, stay in my sweats all day, and work on my computer until the late afternoon. That would be the life."

"The lazy life," Susannah muttered, and she and Ana giggled again. "I think I'd like to work in New York or Chicago or somewhere like that. Some big city across the country – it would be like an adventure."

"So you wouldn't want to stay in Seattle?" Ana asked, grinning at her knowingly. "Not even for Tony Finn?"

" _Nooo_ ," Susannah said as Ana laughed. "Is that why _you_ want to stay here? To be near Christian Grey?"

" _Nooo_ ," Ana repeated Susannah's intonation, and they giggled again. God, they both had way too much to drink.

"Oh, c'mon – admit it. You'd _love_ to stay here for Christian Grey," Susannah grinned knowingly. "And if you moved in with him, you would be able to work from Escala, which is a bonus!"

"Yeah," Ana giggled at the idea before her smile faded slightly, frowning at Susannah confusedly. "Wait, how did you know Christian lives at Escala?"

Susannah blinked, realizing her slip-up. She quickly cleared her throat while trying to save face. "I don't know, I thought it was common knowledge. Claire might've been to the one to tell me. I hear it's gorgeous."

"Yeah, it is," Ana smiled whimsically to herself. "Christian took me to his penthouse once…" Her voice faded away, her smile slipping into a thoughtful frown.

"He did?" Susannah asked interestedly, trying to pull Ana from whatever dark place her mind was going to. She remembered that Ana now knew about his past, and decided to tread lightly.

"Yeah…" Ana mumbled, gazing down into her empty wineglass. Neither of them said anything for a moment, and Susannah was trying to think of something else to say. Ana seemed to be getting upset, and Susannah wanted to redirect the subject into a safer territory.

"…Why do you think Christian likes me?" Ana asked glumly her after a moment, still staring down at her wineglass. Susannah's heart seemed to stop beating in her chest, and she was unsure if she should answer that possibly rhetorical question.

"What's not to like?" Susannah said after a few seconds, smiling slightly in an attempt at levity. Ana smiled weakly but said nothing, letting out an inaudible sigh before draining her already empty glass of wine.

"What's not to like…" Ana repeated quietly to herself, almost sarcastic as she set her wineglass back down on the coffee table.

"Is everything alright with you two?" Susannah asked after a moment, but almost immediately regretted it. Why was she trying to get more involved in this? The buzz she had been feeling moments before from the wine was now completely gone.

"Yeah, I guess," Ana said quietly, still staring down at her glass. "I mean, I don't know…" she shrugged one shoulder slightly. "I guess I'm just thinking some stuff over…"

Never in her whole life had Susannah felt more uncomfortable. Why did she have to go and open her big mouth? She had to get out of this conversation, ASAP, before the situation derailed. "I'm sure everything will be fine. You guys seem really good together – I know it'll all work out in the end."

"I guess…" Ana muttered again, looking down at her manuscript bag sitting at the foot of the couch. She seemed to be lost in thought for a few moments before speaking up again: "Do you think guys always tell girls they're special, even when they're not?"

Oh boy – this was about Grey's past, Susannah was sure. Ana's insecurities about their relationship was understandable under the circumstances, and Susannah definitely was not going to get more involved in this one. Her best move right now was to diffuse the situation: "I'm sorry, Ana, but I'm really the last person you want to talk to about relationships. If you really need to talk to someone, though, I'm sure you could call up Kate or something. She might have some insight on this whole thing."

"She's picking up Elliot from the airport right now," Ana said. "They're going to spend the night together at his place. I don't want to bother her with this."

"Then talk to Christian," Susannah said, immediately noting how weird it felt saying his first name like that. "If you're feeling unsure about where you stand with him, then talk to him about it."

"Talking to him was the problem…" Ana mumbled, her eyes still glued to her manuscript bag. She went silent for a second before speaking up again, apparently talking to herself now.

"...Tells me everything… says what he wants from me, and says that I'm different… then he goes ahead and gives me–" Ana stopped herself mid-sentence and then shook her head. "Never mind," she sighed.

Susannah could only stare at Ana, surprised and a little bit confused by her words. Was this still just her reaction to Christian's past? Or was there something else going on? And why did she keep staring at her bag?

 _No. He wouldn't…_

"What did he do?" Susannah asked slowly, trying to gauge Ana's reaction. She was almost afraid of what her answer would be.

Ana let out a small sigh. "Nothing," she muttered, shaking her head. "It doesn't matter… it's just the wine talking, that's all."

"No, it's not," Susannah insisted, not tearing her gaze away from her. "What's going on, Ana?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear about my relationship, Susannah," Ana said glibly, getting up from her seat and heading over to the kitchen, clearly trying to get away from the conversation. Susannah was having none of it though – while moments ago she didn't want to get involved in anything regarding Grey and Ana's relationship, she now had a horrible suspicion Grey was trying to make Ana into his submissive.

 _That low-life, backstabbing, son-of-a-bitch…_

Grey had sworn to Susannah that Ana was different for him, that he wasn't going to treat her like the other women he had contracted before. But Ana's obvious distress right now told her otherwise. How could Susannah have been so stupid as to believe him? He hadn't changed at all! He was still that cold, emotionless bastard he'd always been! All he cared about was getting a good, hard fuck – and Ana was just his latest target.

"Ana," Susannah got up from her seat and followed her into the kitchen. "Talk to me – what's going on with you and Grey?"

Her NDA and the fact she had fought like hell to keep this secret from Ana for so long be damned – Susannah needed to know the truth, and she needed to protect Ana, who was looking surprised at Susannah's tenacity.

"Nothing's going on," she said, frowning at her friend. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

"It just does," Susannah insisted. "Has he done something to you?"

" _What_?" Ana's eyes widened in shock at that question. "No! No, he's not abusing me, Susannah - how can you even ask me that?"

"Please, Ana. Just tell me the truth." Susannah practically begged. "I know what he's really like, and I can help you – please, just tell me!"

Ana looked utterly flabbergasted. "…What are you talking about?" she asked quietly after a moment, staring at Susannah as if she were seeing her in a whole new light. She was obviously beginning to figure something out.

"You know what I'm talking about," Susannah said firmly. "Just tell me."

Ana didn't say anything for a few seconds; she only stared at Susannah, nothing but shock on her features, but Susannah noticed her eyes imperceptibly move over to her manuscript bag again.

 _Why did she keep looking at her bag?_

Before either of them could say another word or make another move, however, a loud knock came from the door.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging like this! The next chapter should hopefully be up soon.**

 **What did you think of this chapter? Let me know by leaving a review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Wow, thank you all for the amazing reviews! I'm sorry, I tried to get this chapter out sooner, but I haven't had a ton of time this week to work on it.**

 **Anyway, don't let me keep you any longer! Here's the next chapter for you!  
**

* * *

~Ana~

This night was definitely not turning out to be what Ana had expected – and quite frankly, it was getting to be pretty confusing. The way Susannah was behaving right now definitely confirmed that fact. Why was she being like this? And what did she mean, she knows what Christian's really like?

"…What are you talking about?" Ana asked slowly, staring at Susannah. She had the distinct impression her friend knew something she wasn't letting on.

"You know what I'm talking about," Susannah said firmly. "Just tell me."

Ana's heart seemed to stop beating for a second as she briefly considered the possibility of Susannah knowing something about Christian, but quickly pushed it aside. No, Susannah wouldn't know about this sort of thing. She couldn't know about Christian's past or his proclivities, and she definitely couldn't know about the contract currently sitting in her manuscript bag. It was impossible… wasn't it?

Susannah was gazing shrewdly at Ana, who had instinctively glanced over to her bag where the contract was. Susannah quickly followed her gaze just as a loud knock suddenly sounded from the front door.

Neither Ana nor Susannah made a move to answer it – in fact, Susannah almost seemed not to have heard anything as she turned back around to face Ana again. "Why do you keep looking at your bag?"

Ana blinked at her, surprised at her tenacity. "What is the matter with you?" she snapped. "Why are you acting like this?" She had never seen Susannah act like this before. Why couldn't they just keep chatting casually over thai food and wine like they were doing before?

Susannah didn't answer as she stared shrewdly at Ana, who was getting more confused and uncomfortable by the second. In a moment, however, Susannah had turned around and stalked away; for a split second Ana thought she was going to go answer the door, but instead she walked determinedly to the other side of the room, to where Ana's bag was. She immediately bent down and snatched it up.

"Hey!" Ana yelled out as Susannah quickly opened it and started rifling through it. Ana rushed toward her, fear and panic exploding in her chest at an alarming rate. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ana?" A male voice sounded from outside the door.

Ana barely registered her name being said as she tried to grab her bag out of Susannah's hands. Too late, though – Susannah had found what she was apparently looking for, and had ripped the offending packet of papers out of the bag. She grasped the contract tightly in her hands as her angry eyes roved over it, and Ana felt her stomach plummet horribly to her feet.

 _God, this can't be happening._

"Give that to me!" Ana snapped, her voice quavering as she reached over to rip the contract out of Susannah's hands. Susannah stepped out of reach, however, anger and horror etched on her face as she stared at the contract.

"That son of a bitch…" she muttered to herself, her voice quavering too, though out of suppressed anger rather than fear. Ana's stomach plummeted even further.

"Susannah, it's not what you think…" Ana began desperately.

"Ana, when did he give this to you?" Susannah turned her angry face toward Ana and held the contract up.

"Susannah, this isn't –"

" _When did he give this to you?!_ " Susannah repeated, looking more furious than Ana had ever seen her before.

"Ana?" The male voice from the hallway spoke up again, and the doorknob rattled. "Is everything okay? I'm coming inside."

Ana and Susannah looked up just as the door opened, and Christian hurried over the threshold.

"Ana, what's going on?"

He stopped dead in his tracks halfway into the room, staring in shock at Susannah before turning to look at Ana. For a lingering moment, there was complete silence, and the three of them could only stare at one another as realization and understanding slowly began to form between them.

"Christian," Ana began, unsure of what she wanted to say.

Susannah suddenly dropped the contract at her feet, shaking with rage, her furious eyes glued to Christian. "…You sadistic, lying, back-stabbing _BASTARD!_ " In a second she was across the room, and before Christian could even take a step back, she had landed a loud, ringing slap across his face.

 _SMACK!_

"Susannah!" Ana shrieked as Christian stumbled backward in shock. Susannah raised her hand again, but Ana had quickly rushed forward, grabbing her arm and yanking her away from Christian. "What are you _doing_?!"

"You stay away from her!" Susannah yelled at Christian, ignoring Ana's words as she struggled to free herself from her grip. "Don't even _look_ at her!"

"Stop it!" Ana demanded, still holding Susannah's arms.

"What the hell, Susannah?" Christian snapped, straightening up and clutching his cheek, which was reddening from the slap. "What was _that_ for?!"

"Why does Ana have a contract, huh?!"

Christian froze, his face paling. He stared wide-eyed at Susannah for a few seconds before turning to look at Ana, who had gone speechless. How did Susannah know about the contract? And why did Christian know Susannah's first name?

"She-she just found it. I don't know…" Ana muttered to Christian in explanation, though it seemed insufficient to explain away the confusion of this whole situation.

"All I had to do was take one look at her heartbroken face, and I could put the pieces together," Susannah snapped, still glaring at Christian, who finally seemed to realize what exactly was going on.

"Okay. Susannah, look – there's obviously been some sort of misunderstanding…" Christian began in a voice of forced calm, but she cut him off:

"No, you _lied_ to me!" Susannah was so angry at this point she seemed to be beyond consolation. "In your office at Escala, you had looked me in the eye and you _promised_ me – you _swore_ to me that Ana was different for you! You _lied!_ "

"I didn't lie!" Christian was beginning to get upset. "She _is_ different!"

" _Then why does she have a contract?_ " Susannah demanded again. Christian turned and ran his hands through his hair, looking distressed.

"I never… she didn't… it – it wasn't for her to sign!" he stammered angrily, turning to look back at Susannah.

"Oh no, of course not! It was just for her to read and follow implicitly!" Susannah agreed, a heavy bite of sarcasm to her voice. "I told you that she's not a sub! How could you even _think_ to give her that contract?!"

"You want to ease up a little bit?" Christian asked, looking even angrier than before. "This lifestyle is all I know!"

"Really?" Susannah asked, glaring daggers at him. "Tell me, do you think _Ana_ knows? Do you she has _any idea_ what it is we do?!"

"You don't understand…!"

Ana barely registered that she had let go of Susannah's arm at some point and had taken a few steps back, watching the whole scene play out like a movie. She felt separated from everything going on, and was in a state of complete disbelief and shock as she listened to Susannah and Christian argue.

 _We?_

Ana's disjointed thoughts began to take form, and she began to realize the truth of the situation.

 _Susannah said we… she knew about the contract… she was Christian's submissive…_

"'We'?" Ana asked Susannah quietly, her quivering sounding dangerously close to tears. Both Christian and Susannah suddenly went silent, as if remembering Ana was there in the room with them. They both turned to look at her, eyes wide.

"Ana…" Christian breathed, gazing imploring at her. Susannah looked down at her feet, closing her eyes regretfully.

"What is she talking about?" Ana turned to look at Christian, who was looking desperately uncomfortable as he stared at her. She knew what he was about to say, but she still didn't know if she was ready to hear it.

"Ana, it's not what you think. We're not together…" Christian began, gesturing to Susannah while taking a beseeching step toward Ana.

"But you used to be," Ana took a step back, her eyes still glued to Christian's. He didn't say anything, but the desperate look in his eyes told her she was right on the money.

"You," Ana turned to look at Susannah. "You were his submissive."

Susannah still gazed down at her feet, neither confirming nor denying that fact, and Ana suddenly felt she had enough.

"…I think you both need to leave," she whispered, feeling close to tears. She was exhausted of this night, these people, and this whole situation. She turned to head down the hall toward her bedroom.

"Ana, wait–" Susannah began, snapping her eyes up and stepping toward her.

"Susannah, I know what you're trying to do," Ana said, her back still turned, unable to meet her eyes. "And I appreciate it. But it's unnecessary, and I'm telling you that you need to leave. Now."

Susannah didn't say anything else, and Ana was glad, because she didn't want to hear it. All she wanted was to escape into her room and not come out until the sun came up. Numbly, she turned and headed down the hallway and into her bedroom, not even bothering to see if either of them had left as she slammed the door shut, blocking everything out.

* * *

~Christian~

 _God, please don't let this be happening..._ Christian's intention of eradicating the contract between him and Ana tonight were completely shot to hell – he knew he would be lucky if Ana ever even spoke to him again, let alone pursue a relationship! Why did Susannah have to be here tonight? He was highly aware of the fact that he was now left alone with her after Ana had closed herself off in her bedroom, and while he would have liked nothing better than to get the hell out of there right now, he didn't want to leave Ana alone.

Susannah suddenly turned and looked at Christian, anger all over her features as she glared at him. "So now she knows. Happy?"

Christian turned and glared right back at her. "This is not how I wanted her to find out and you know it."

" _You're_ the one who gave her the contract! Were you expecting me to just to lay down and accept the fact that you were hurting my friend?"

"I'm not hurting her," Christian lowered his voice to a hiss, mindful that their argument was escalating again and Ana was in the other room. "I gave her the contract two days ago, after she found out about my lifestyle, and only because she was curious about the aspects of BDSM. The contract was just for her to look over and see what the lifestyle entailed – I never wanted her to sign it or anything. I didn't realize until tonight that the contract was upsetting her, though, so that's why I came over here. I never wanted her to be my submissive," he emphasized, and Susannah was beginning to soften slightly.

After a moment where neither of them said anything, Susannah finally spoke up, in a voice that was significantly calmer: "I'm sorry. I thought you had given her the contract a few weeks ago, at the beginning of your relationship. I overreacted."

Christian felt only slightly mollified, and couldn't help but respond with a bite of sarcasm: "Well, I'm just glad you at least told me about your concerns before doing something drastic, like slapping me in the face or something."

Susannah looked up and glared at him with a sudden angry belligerence. "You know, you can mock me all you want, but I had every reason to believe that you were going to hurt Ana in some way. I knew you months before you guys met, and I know firsthand how cold and callous and emotionless you can be."

"That was different," Christian said. "I was your Dom."

"Even so," Susannah glared up at him with nothing but anger on her features. "You didn't give a rat's ass about me when I was your sub. You didn't even know the most basic things about me, like where I worked or who my friends were. It took you weeks to figure out that Ana and I even knew each other!"

"It wasn't my job to know about those things about you. Do you wish that I treated you better or something?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Susannah insisted. "What I'm saying is that I know firsthand how closed off you can be, and I would never forgive myself if I just stood aside and let you treat my friend – a girl who actually likes you – the same way that you treated me."

Christian was silent for a moment, surprised by her blunt statement. "I was really that cold to you?"

Susannah sighed and looked down at her feet, her expression impassive. "I left the lifestyle too," she muttered after a moment, and Christian blinked, surprised."I think I've been unhappy with the lifestyle for a long time now, but after I contracted with you, it seemed as if I had finally reached the point in my life where I decided to do something about it. I've taken some steps already to improve my life so far, and now…" She looked up at him. "I'm not submissive anymore."

 _The left side of my face would agree with you_ , Christian was tempted to say, but stopped himself, because he sort of understood what she was going through. It was a real struggle, trying to transition into a normal life when a different lifestyle was all one had ever known. He, Christian, had fallen back on the safety net that was his contract, while Susannah kept deliberately acting out toward him in a blatantly non-submissive manner. It was their personal ways of coping – and it clearly wasn't working for them.

Christian grimaced. "Well, I'm not Dominant anymore. Want to start a support group?"

Susannah looked at him for a moment before giving him a reluctant smile. "I'll bring the donuts."

Christian gave her a small smile too, and it was nice that for a moment he didn't have to think about Ana and the massive amount of damage control he knew he was going to have to do if there was even a chance of her still wanting to be with him. Just as he was beginning to think about what tomorrow might entail, he saw Susannah moving across the room to retrieve her purse and jacket from a nearby chair.

"Ana wants us to leave," she reminded Christian as she pulled on her coat. Christian didn't say anything, but instead gazed toward the hallway that led toward Ana's bedroom.

"I know," he said after a moment.

Susannah moved toward the door, but hesitated before stepping out into the hallway. "When she comes out…" she said quietly. "Tell her I'm sorry."

Christian didn't say anything to that, and Susannah left without another word. He let out a small sigh before pulling out his phone and texting Taylor to let him know he was going to be staying at Ana's for the night. If there was an emergency at work, Ros was going to have to deal with it – there was no way he was going to leave Ana by herself tonight.

He silently moved across the room, slipping off his jacket and setting it on the coffee table before settling down on the couch. He knew it could be hours before Ana came out, but he didn't care – he'd wait on this couch forever if it meant he could just talk to her again and tell her how he felt. Even if it was just for a moment.

He leaned further back against the couch with a sigh, continuing to gaze toward the hallway. After what felt like hours and hours of watchful waiting, his eyelids began to droop, and sleep overcame his thoughts.

* * *

 **A/N: Many of you seem to have some very polarizing opinions of Susannah right now, which I suppose is understandable at this point in the story. My intention was never to villainize her, nor to make her out to be the hero, but just as someone struggling to figure out her identity while being stuck in a crappy situation, pretty much like how Ana and CG are right now. I suppose it's all up for interpretation, though.**

 **I know I'm probably going to get a lot of strong opinions about this chapter, but please leave a review and let me know what you think! (Don't worry, it's going to be looking up from here!)**

 **Thanks!**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: As I expected, there were some very strong reactions from you guys about last chapter, both positive and negative. Despite all of your diverse opinions, however, I truly hope this next chapter makes you all just a little happier:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Thursday, 5:02 am

~Ana~

It had taken Ana hours to finally fall asleep, and when she did, her dreams were fitful and restless, filled with images of contracts and whips and faceless women who resembled Susannah. Ana kept waking up throughout the night, and by 5 am, she couldn't get back to sleep; she just lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, still feeling completely and utterly exhausted.

The shocking information she received last night continued to assault her mind, refusing to leave her with a moment's peace. Horrible images of Susannah and Christian together invaded her waking thoughts, making her feel sick to her stomach – no matter how many times she thought about it, she just could not get used to the idea of Susannah as Christian's submissive. The fact that Susannah was even involved in that sort of lifestyle was probably what shocked Ana the most: while the idea of Christian being involved with any other woman was upsetting, Ana already knew he had a past in the lifestyle. Susannah's involvement in all this was completely unexpected – how long has Susannah been involved in BDSM? Why was she even attracted to it? And how could she and Christian be so deceptive as to hide all of this from her?

Ana sat up in bed, tucking her knees up under her chin while trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to fall. It was all so frustrating, and this was what bothered and confused her the most – she honestly didn't know if she should have found out about this. While she hated the fact that they hid this from her, she could have gone quite happily for the rest of her life not knowing that Susannah and Christian used to–

Ana quickly shook her head and snapped her eyes shut. God, she couldn't even think about it. Susannah and Christian, together... it just felt wrong. She had to keep telling herself that Susannah was no longer involved with Christian, and that it was very unlikely that there were ever any actual feelings between them when they were under contract. Christian had talked about his relationships with his submissives as nothing more than sexual – but in a way, that almost made it worse. How could Susannah just let Christian use her for her body like that? Susannah's behavior around Christian last night at least suggested feelings of animosity between them rather than sexual passion. But still... _why didn't they say anything to her?_

The fact that Christian and Susannah hid this from her was extremely worrying. How long had they known about this? Were they under contract together when they found out about her connection with both of them? What else were they hiding from her? Ana's mind couldn't help but fill with far-fetched thoughts of everybody in her life lying to her: was Claire secretly into BDSM too? Was Marcy? Or Kate? Were they all submissives and she just didn't know about it? Had they all been involved with Christian in some capacity as well? Was everyone she'd ever known just deceiving her and making her look like an idiot…?

Ana sighed to herself – she was being ridiculous, she knew, but she couldn't help but feel a little paranoid. A fucking A-bomb had just been dropped on her, after all.

Ana slowly got out of bed and padded across her room to the hallway, wanting to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. It was something to do, at least, while she was awake. When she made it to the kitchen and flicked on the light, however, she gasped and practically fell over from shock when she noticed Christian sitting on her couch in the living room. Thinking he was up waiting for her, she stared at his immobile body for a moment before cautiously approaching him, her heart hammering in her chest. Once closer, she realized he was fast asleep: his arms were crossed in front of his broad chest and his head leaned back on the couch, his mouth slightly gaping open as he slumbered. His handsome face had a troubled expression, as if he were having a bad dream, but Ana didn't think to wake him up – she moved over and perched herself on the armchair, watching him sleep while thinking about what had led him to camp out on her couch last night.

She wasn't mad that he had stayed behind, but that was probably because she wasn't as worked up as she was last night when she asked him and Susannah to leave. In fact, sitting here, watching him in the early hours of the morning, she was sort of touched he had cared enough about her to stick around… but, Ana had to remind herself, it was probably because he just felt guilty about the whole situation. He had conspired with Susannah behind her back and refused to tell her vital information she probably should have known from the beginning; but at the same time, he may not have even known about Ana's connection with Susannah until recently. How could he have known? It was very likely he had found out just recently, and was therefore trying to figure out the best way to tell her this unbelievable coincidence.

Ana's heart sunk a little; she realized Susannah's deception hurt a little more than Christian's. Not only had Susannah been hiding the fact that she was a submissive, but she knew perfectly well that over the past few weeks, she, Ana, had been developing feelings for Christian. They saw each other every day, and if Susannah had just given her just the smallest hint about her true connection with Christian, maybe Ana wouldn't have felt so blindsided. And Christian wouldn't be sleeping upright on her couch right now…

Ana watched Christian shift in his sleep, the frown on his face deepening as he tightened his crossed arms across his chest as if shivering. Sighing quietly to herself, Ana got up from the armchair and walked over to her linen closet, going to retrieve a blanket and pillow for Christian in order to make him more comfortable.

"Noooo… please…"

As Ana carried the bedding back to the living room, she heard what sounded like a strangled moan come from Christian. She hurried over to the couch to see him fidgeting aggressively, his face contorted in agony, his crossed arms now at his side and hands clenched into fists as he tried to fight off his nightmare. Ana dropped to her knees in front of him.

"No – stop… please…!" he sobbed.

"Shhhhh, it's okay," Ana whispered soothingly, rubbing Christian's knee in a comforting way. He stopped moving, but he was still breathing heavily and his face was still contorted in a scowl. Ana had never seen him look so tortured – it actually frightened her a little.

Nevertheless, she continued to soothe him by rubbing his leg and whispering sweet, comforting words. After what felt like several minutes, Christian began to calm down; he had stopped his disjointed muttering and his scowl relaxed into a more calm expression. Ana cautiously picked up the blanket she had dropped by her side and ever-so-gently laid it across his lap and chest. He slept on, remaining absolutely still, his nightmare seemingly passed.

Ana placed the throw pillow beside Christian, against the arm of the couch, and gently urged him to lie down on his side, trying not to wake him in the process. Luckily, he didn't wake up when she laid him down – in fact, when his head hit the pillow, he even hunkered down further into the couch with a contented sleepy sigh. Ana knew how much more comfortable it was to sleep lying down rather than sitting up, and she couldn't help but smile slightly to herself as she watched him.

 _Adorable._

She had by no means forgotten what had transpired last night, or that she was still kind of mad at him; remembering that was what probably prevented her from brushing her hands through his soft hair and kissing him on the cheek, like she was tempted to do. However, she continued to watch him for a moment before slowly turning and heading over to the kitchen, deciding to forgo the glass of water and instead put on a pot of coffee. She needed a serious energy boost if she was going to combat this overwhelming exhaustion today.

It wasn't until she had finished making a new pot of coffee and was sipping a mug of it while gazing out the kitchen window when she remembered it was Thursday, and that she had to go into work today. The thought depressed her – as if the idea of going about her day pretending like everything was normal wasn't enough, she had to see Susannah again so soon after what happened. Everything just felt too raw right now, and sitting next to her all day while not speaking to her would just be too awkward.

Ana supposed she would have to suck it up, though – her career was more important than whatever petty arguments were going on in her personal life, after all.

"Nngh… Ana…?"

Ana turned toward the living room to see Christian's darkened silhouette slowly sitting up from his position on the couch, clearly starting to wake up. Ana silently padded over to the lamp beside her living room window and flicked it on, sending a soft, muted light throughout the room. It was just dim enough so that it wouldn't sear at Christian's eyelids as he began to rouse from sleep, but he still blinked blearily as he glanced around the room.

"…Ana?" Christian asked again, and Ana walked over to him.

"Good morning," she said, perching herself on the armchair again, holding her mug of coffee in both hands. Christian looked up at her, blinking.

"Good morning."

Ana held up her mug. "Coffee?"

"Sure," Christian rubbed his tired eyes before smiling tremulously at her. "Um… thank you."

"You're welcome."

There was a short silence where neither of them made a move or said anything; the elephant in the room still hung heavily between them. Ana didn't want Christian to think she was still so angry that she wanted him gone or anything, so she got up and moved over to the kitchen to pour him a cup of coffee.

"Did you do this?" Christian asked, and Ana turned around to see him holding the blanket and throw pillow in his hands.

"Yeah." Ana walked over to him and handed him a cup of coffee. "You were having a nightmare."

"Oh," Christian mumbled, accepting the mug from her. He gave her a small, slightly uncomfortable smile. "Um… thanks. Again."

"Don't mention it," Ana said. She moved over to sit on one end of the couch, and Christian shifted over so he was sitting on the other end. There was another slightly awkward silence while they sipped at their coffee, neither of them sure of what to say.

"What time is it?" Christian asked after a few minutes.

"Almost six." Ana sipped her coffee again.

Christian gave a small smile. "So early?"

"I couldn't sleep."

Christian nodded as his smile faded. "Me neither," he muttered, and there was another pause. "I'm sorry for crashing on your couch like this. I never meant to stay this long, I… I thought you were going to come out of your room sometime last night, but I fell asleep before you did. I wanted to talk to you. I just…" He hesitated, shaking his head ruefully. "I didn't want to leave things the way we did."

"It's okay, Christian," Ana said. "I mean, I was surprised when I found you sleeping on the couch, but I should have known you wanted to stay and talk about what happened. I acted impulsively when I kicked you guys out last night…"

"No, Ana – you had every right to be upset," Christian said immediately. "And if you want me to leave right now, I'd completely understand."

"No. I mean, I don't know…" Ana said quietly, unsure of her own feelings at the moment. Luckily, Christian spoke up again:

"Feel free to say no, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to stay for a bit and just talk." He paused for a second before continuing, a little quieter. "I feel so awful about all of this, Ana – I wish I could take it all back. I really do."

Ana, not trusting herself to say anything at the moment, only nodded. His indirect reference to Susannah made her remember where she was supposed to be in a couple hours.

"I would love to stay here and talk, Christian, but I have to get ready to go to work in a couple hours. We both do," she reminded him.

"I haven't really got much planned today – at least nothing that can't be rescheduled," Christian said immediately. "If I called up Marcy and made up an excuse for you, would you then consider spending the day with me to talk?"

Ana blinked, surprised by his suggestion. She couldn't help but be shocked at how easy it was for him to ditch out on his work like that. _Must be nice to be the boss_ , Ana thought to herself, and had a strange urge to laugh.

"I don't know… what would our talk consist of?"

"Full disclosure," Christian said simply. "Mine, at least - I owe you that much. I'll tell you everything you want to know: any questions you have for me, about my past or the lifestyle or about Susannah, I'll answer them for you with complete, 100% honesty. I swear." He put his hand over his heart in a show of sincerity.

Ana gazed at him for a moment, forced to point out the obvious. "It's a little late for honesty," she said quietly. Her tone wasn't accusatory, but Christian's face still fell as he brought his hand down from his heart. He didn't say anything, and Ana felt there was really nothing for him to say.

For a few seconds, there was silence, and Ana let out a short sigh, gazing down at her coffee mug. "Okay," she said quietly, and then looked up at Christian, who was watching her. "I'm going to go take a shower, then start breakfast, and then… we'll talk."

The look of profound relief on Christian's face was enough to make Ana almost smile. Almost. "Thank you, Ana."

She stood up. "Would you like a shower too?"

"I would, but I don't have any clean clothes here. Taylor knows where I am, though, so I can just call and ask him to bring some stuff over. He shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes."

"Okay. Well, there's a bathroom right down the hall you can use once he gets here."

"Thank you," Christian said gratefully, and Ana nodded before turning to leave. Before she could walk away, however, Christian took her hand in his, and she stopped in her tracks.

"I mean it," he said, getting to his feet, but still holding Ana's hand. She turned to look at him, and his gray eyes were sincere as they gazed at her. "Thank you."

Ana looked back at him for a moment before smiling and giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. She didn't know what to say to him right now, but she silently hoped she was making the right decision agreeing to spend the day with him. At the very least, she would get to hold off on seeing Susannah again for at least a day.

"I'll be back," Ana whispered, and Christian nodded. Letting go of his hand, Ana turned and walked down the hall to get ready.

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 **A/N: Sorry this was a bit of a slow chapter, but I thought things needed to cool down a bit before Ana and Christian talked things out. Hope you don't mind!**

 **So what do you think? Leave a review and let me know!**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Hope you guys like this next chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Thursday, 7:15 am

Ana's apartment

~Ana~

Ana had been planning on only taking a quick shower, but had ended up taking a long, luxurious one instead. She didn't regret it, though – the extended time she spent under the warm stream of water revitalized her and made her feel better than she had felt in over a day. The knowledge that she wasn't rushing to go to work this morning definitely added to the relaxation that permeated her mind, and she allowed herself to take her time, scrubbing away the memories of last night. After she finally finished up, she dried off and threw on a pair of leggings and her old WSU sweater before making her way into the kitchen to start breakfast. As Ana began to gather ingredients for omelets, she distinctly heard the shower in the other bathroom turn off. She realized that Taylor must have stopped by with Christian's things while she was otherwise engaged.

Just as she began frying up the chopped onions and peppers for their omelets, Christian finally made an appearance: he looked delectable, dressed casually in blue jeans and a black long-sleeved thermal tee that clung to his muscles. His hair was still wet, just like Ana's, and she could easily detect the clean, manly scent of his body wash. Ana smirked to herself; Taylor really did go above and beyond sometimes with coming through for his boss.

Christian was talking on his cell phone: "…I just wanted to let you know that Marco and I need Anastasia at GEH today. One of our senior content editors in our marketing department had a family emergency and isn't able to come in today. Unfortunately, he had a project he needed to finish by this evening and now isn't able to, and so Marco and I are sort of in a bind. I spoke with Marco, and he seems to agree that Anastasia is more than capable to handle the job duties this project requires, so I spoke with her this morning, and she agreed to come in for the day. I just wanted to call you and let you know you're going to be short one copyeditor today…"

He paused as he listened to whatever Marcy was saying on the other end, and his eyes met Ana's. He smiled at her, and Ana smiled back, feeling her stomach flutter slightly.

"…Of course… Yes, I believe she does know…" Christian smiled and raised his eyebrows at her. Ana gave him an odd look, unsure as to what they were talking about.

"…Ok, great," Christian grinned fully, apparently happy Marcy bought the lie. "Yes, thank you… oh, and if you could email the other SIP copyeditors to let them know what's going on with Ms. Steele today, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you… alright… thank you, again. Goodbye." He hung up the phone.

"Hey," Christian finally turned to Ana. "That smells good."

"Thanks. Hope you like Denver omelets," Ana said, proceeding to crack five or six eggs into a bowl and whipping them with a fork.

"Oh… Ana, you don't have to make me breakfast," Christian said uncomfortably after a moment. Ana glanced over at him, and saw he looked rather awkward. "I mean, after last night… you wanted me to leave, and I didn't. You didn't ask me to stay over…"

"Christian, it's okay," Ana overrode him firmly, turning back to the stove. "Despite all the drama that happened last night, I'm not going to try to withhold food from you. Besides, I enjoy cooking for people."

"But still…" Christian said quietly. "I just want you to know that… I don't expect anything from you."

Ana just looked at him for a moment before nodding and turning back to the stove, pressing her lips together slightly. She didn't really know what to say to that, but part of her was glad that he said it anyway.

"…So what did Marcy say that you said I already knew?" Ana asked after a few seconds, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence. Christian chuckled.

"Oh, yeah – well, apparently Marcy has to attend a convention all day tomorrow, so she was going to make Friday a work-optional day for all SIP employees. I told her you already knew that, and that you would be willing to come in tomorrow and make up the work you missed today."

"Oh yeah, that Harper-Collins thing," Ana nodded, remembering Marcy mentioning it to them in a memo last week. "I guess that's fair. Although I was kind of looking forward to having a long weekend."

"If you want, I could call Marcy up tomorrow and tell her Marco and I need you for another day."

"No, thank you," Ana giggled, plating the omelets and carrying them over to the kitchen island, where Christian was waiting. "But I appreciate you using your widespread influence to do unethical things on my behalf."

"It's what I do," Christian smirked at her before picking up his fork and taking a bite of his omelet. "Mm this is delicious…"

Ana smiled; the two of them continued to eat their breakfasts, making small-talk every once in a while. Ana didn't know if Christian was going to eventually approach the subject of Susannah and the contract, or if she was supposed to. While she did legitimately want answers from him, she wasn't entirely sure if she was ready to hear them. Therefore, she remained silent.

After they were both done eating, Christian took their empty dishes to the kitchen and began to wash them in the sink. Ana waited by herself at the kitchen island while sipping her tepid coffee, trying to properly get her thoughts together.

"When?" she blurted out after a few moments before closing her eyes, silently chastising herself for speaking her inner question out loud like that with no context.

"What?" Christian asked, turning off the water and drying off his hands with a small towel before walking toward Ana, looking confused.

Ana took a deep breath before looking up into Christian's inquisitive eyes. "…When was Susannah your submissive?"

Christian froze, staring at her; he looked uncomfortable and upset that their serious talk was about to begin, but Ana wasn't about to take her question back now. She figured this was an easy one in comparison to the dozens of others she had rattling around in her brain.

Christian suddenly sighed, setting himself down on the chair opposite her. "Ana, I said I was going to tell you the truth today, no matter what – but the truth can sometimes be difficult to hear. And with Susannah being your friend and everything…"

"Christian," Ana interrupted him firmly, and stared intently at him as if to tell him to get on with it. He sighed again.

"She was my last submissive before I met you."

Ana frowned, trying to do the math in her head. "Wait, so… she was your submissive up until a couple weeks ago?"

Christian glanced down, looking uncomfortable. "Yes."

Bile seemed to churn in Ana's gut as she stared at Christian. _A couple weeks…_ she had not expected that. She had figured it was recent, but a couple weeks…?

"So… when you and I started spending time together… you and she were…?" Ana couldn't finish, her distress making her almost inarticulate. Was Christian really one of those jerks who flirted with girls while secretly sleeping with others?

"No!" Christian said quickly. "No, Ana, I didn't cheat on you with her. She was technically still my sub when I met you, but after you came into my life, I couldn't even think about being with her in that capacity. I was way too conflicted – I've never had feelings for someone like I've had for you, especially not for Susannah."

"So you didn't have sex with her after we met?" Ana asked, slightly more mollified than from a few seconds ago.

"No, I didn't," Christian said sincerely. "You can even ask Susannah – soon after I met you and decided to pursue you, she and I met only once to end our contract, and that was it. Nothing more."

"And you never had any sort of feelings for her?" Ana asked, almost afraid to hear the answer he would give.

"No." Christian's lips twisted slightly in an uncomfortable frown. "I mean, not to sound callous to your friend, but I barely even knew her. I still don't – she was my sub, technically, but that was the extent of our relationship. Really, the handful of conversations we've had so far have only been about you."

"Me?" Ana raised her eyebrows in surprise. _They talk about me?_

"Yeah. When we found out about our, um… mutual connection…" Christian had the decency to look ashamed. "…we talked a bit about how we were going to tell you about our past arrangement. We… disagreed about certain things, though. Relevant things."

"What relevant things?"

Christian sighed again. "Like whether or not we should even tell you." Ana raised her eyebrows again, and Christian grimaced uncomfortably. " _I_ felt you deserved to know the truth, and I didn't want to lie to you, especially since this whole vanilla relationship thing is very new to me. But Susannah felt differently – she thought that it wasn't necessary for you to know, and that it would only cause you pain if you found out. Also, I think she was uncomfortable with you knowing about her involvement in BDSM."

Ana couldn't help but let out a derisive snort, "Yeah, I kind of wish I didn't know about that either."

Christian frowned slightly. "So you agree with Susannah's assessment that we should have hidden this from you?"

Ana let out a tired sigh, rubbing her forehead while closing her eyes. "I don't know, Christian… I really don't. I mean, all last night I kept going back and forth about it in my head. A big part of me kept wondering why you guys didn't just tell me this from the beginning… but another part of me was questioning the fact if I even _wanted_ to know about any of this. It's all just so confusing."

Christian looked contrite. "I know I've said it before, Ana, but I can't tell you how sorry I am that I brought all of this on you. I'm sorry I'm so fucked up, and I'm especially sorry that your friend ended up being one of my submissives – if I could take it all back, I would."

Ana only nodded; while she still wasn't sure if she could completely trust Christian, she did know at least that much was true.

"Is Susannah still involved in BDSM?" Ana asked after a moment of silence.

"She said that she wasn't," Christian answered. "Apparently she made some 'life changes', and got out of the lifestyle for good."

"…Tony," Ana whispered to herself, suddenly remembering him. In all the drama of last night, she had completely forgotten about him.

Christian suddenly stiffened in his seat, his expression hardening to a stony mask as he stared at Ana. "Who's Tony? Did he ask you out or something?"

"No," Ana shook her head, fighting the urge to laugh. "He's Susannah's boyfriend. She met him a couple weeks ago – he and his family manage that bookstore cafe you found me at that one time. They really like each other, I think."

"Oh." Christian's shoulders relaxed as his jealousy immediately dissipated. "Well, I suppose that makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"The fact that she met someone – it explains her reason for leaving the lifestyle," Christian shrugged as if it should have been obvious. "I know firsthand what that's like: when you finally meet that special someone, it changes everything about you. Your worldview shifts, your preconceived notions are shot out the window, and your life's perspective is turned completely on its head. Nothing is ever the same."

He spoke so matter-of-factly, so sincerely that it made Ana's chest constrict. She swallowed, feeling herself choke up a little – was this really how Christian felt about her?

Ana cleared her throat, trying to redirect the conversation so Christian wouldn't see how emotional she was getting. "Right, well… I guess that must've been her reason, then."

Christian didn't say anything, and there was another short silence where both of them just pondered their own thoughts. There were other worries and concerns Ana was dying to voice aloud, but she wasn't sure how to approach them. Perhaps if she blurted something out again?

"…Ana, the reason I came over here last night was to tell you I don't want the contract with you," Christian said quietly after a moment, and Ana looked at him. He was gazing down at his hands. "I knew you had serious concerns about it, and I soon realized that the risk of losing you far outweighed the risk of pursuing a normal relationship with you. I came here to tell you that."

Ana frowned. "You thought having a relationship with me was a risk?" Surely he knew she was as interested in him as he was in her?

Christian let out a long sigh, as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. "Ana, the way I've lived my life so far was comfortable for me – it had rules and limits, and it gave me complete mental and physical control over myself and whoever I was with. But, in the end, all it really did was prevent me from experiencing true, unadulterated happiness with someone. The kind of passion I experienced with you back when we first met would have been completely snuffed out if I tried to limit us with the contract. I realize that now. When I first met you, I knew right away, deep down, that I would eventually have to make a choice; a choice between what was comfortable and what made me happy. I'll admit, I struggled with it at first, and when I agreed to you following aspects of the contract, I thought I could have both. But all that did was push you away from me even more." Christian sighed, looking down at his hands. "That was a mistake – a big one. But I know better now."

Ana could only stare at him. He seemed really torn up about this. "It's not entirely your fault, Christian," she said quietly after a moment, and he looked up at her. "You're not the only one who struggles to find happiness: I know for a fact that I've had a history of compromising my beliefs because of what I think a guy wants to hear. Hell, in high school, I ended up giving my virginity to some jerk because I thought that was what would make him love me. But all that did was hurt me and make me reject every guy that's ever expressed any interest in me for years because I was so afraid of getting hurt again. But then I met you…" Ana swallowed and shook her head. "…and I felt something for you; something I've never experienced with anyone else before. And you told me about your lifestyle and your contract, and I… I ended up compromising myself again." Ana looked down at her hands, her eyes filling with tears. "It's almost like I'm afraid to be happy."

She wasn't looking at Christian as she spoke, but she heard the rustle of clothing as he got up from his seat and felt his strong arms wrap around her body in a comforting hug. Ana pressed her face into the fabric of his shirt and hugged him back, inhaling his clean, manly scent as she did so. It calmed her down enough to keep her from completely breaking down in his arms.

"Ana, you compromised for me because that's just the kind of person you are," Christian whispered into her hair. "You put others before yourself, and I think that's an amazing quality to have. You are a wonderful, strong, kind, beautiful, selfless young woman, and that is the reason why I like you so much. I want to be with you for _you_ – not because of a contract with rules. Just you."

Ana didn't say anything, but his words were like a balm to her soul. She had been afraid that she couldn't be enough for Christian, even though he had stated time and again that she was. She now knew he didn't want to be with Susannah, but she had still been kind of afraid he still needed what a submissive like Susannah could offer him. Now, however, she was beginning to really believe that he wanted more of a real relationship with her. Ana's heart began to beat faster at the very idea.

 _No contract. No rules. Just me and him…_ Ana liked the sound of that.

"No contract," Ana whispered into his chest, and he rubbed her back as she felt him smile into her hair.

"No contract," he repeated, as if confirming it to both of them.

"Okay," Ana muttered. And that was it.

They stayed in that position for a while longer; her sitting down, arms wrapped around his waist and face pressed against his chest, while he remained standing, his big arms encasing her while his nose stayed buried in her hair. Neither of them wanted to let go just yet, and they both reveled in the small victory of taking a step forward in their relationship. They weren't all the way there yet, but it was a start.

And for now, that was enough.

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 **A/N: Next chapter – Christian talks about his past. Stay tuned!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think:)**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

9:01 am

Ana's apartment

~Christian~

Christian and Ana had been in the kitchen for what felt like a while now, still embracing each other as neither of them wanted to make a move to separate just yet. Christian felt completely at peace – he was so relieved that Ana had agreed to talk to him and decided not to kick him out of her apartment, like he was afraid she would have. Instead, he stayed and they had a real conversation, one where he laid everything out for her, about Susannah and the lifestyle. It was cathartic to have finally told her, and she hadn't run away yet; he allowed himself to bask in the moment as he continued to hold Ana in his arms.

It had been a while since she had said anything, however, and Christian was beginning to worry that she had fallen asleep on him.

"I'm about to fall asleep, here," Ana mumbled drowsily into Christian's chest, as if reading his mind. Christian chuckled.

"The coffee's not doing its job, huh?" he said amusedly, and Ana shook her head against his chest. "That's understandable – you said you didn't get much sleep last night." Ana pulled her face away from his chest and blinked up at him; he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "D'you want to go back to bed?"

Ana yawned. "Bed sounds wonderful, actually. But what are you going to do?"

Christian was exhausted as well, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it. He just shrugged and gestured over to the living room. "I can just crash on your couch again or something. Don't worry about it."

"What? No way," Ana frowned, separating herself from Christian and getting to her feet in front of him. "You fell asleep on my couch last night – there's no way that can be comfortable. If you really want to go back to sleep too, you can come with me and sleep in my bed."

She was sincere in her offer, but she grinned and giggled when Christian exaggeratedly raised an eyebrow. "Not like that! Just sleeping – no funny business. Alright, Mr. Grey?"

Christian pretended to pout. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly, and Ana smiled again. She took him by the hand and pulled him along the hallway toward her bedroom, and Christian couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he allowed himself to be dragged along by her.

~/~

Ana's double bed was noticeably smaller than Christian's king-sized one at Escala, but Christian could hardly bring himself to care. He was actually more thankful for the intimacy of the smaller bed as he and Ana slid in together on opposite sides. Cuddled up together underneath the down comforter, the two of them were able to fall asleep within minutes; Ana's head nestled against Christian's shoulder while he nuzzled into her soft hair, breathing deeply as he cocooned himself in her intoxicating scent and calming presence, allowing sleep to overtake his thoughts…

~/~

They had fallen asleep around nine o'clock, and had woken up almost five hours later. Christian stirred himself awake, feeling like much more time had passed than what actually had. He immediately noticed that he and Ana had changed positions in their sleep; she was currently wrapped in his arms, her back against his chest, while his face lay pressed against the back of her beautiful head. He couldn't resist leaning forward to press his lips against the underside of her ear, and she squirmed in his arms.

"…Nnngh…" Ana began to wake up, stretching her arms out over her head as she pulled herself out of the abyss of sleep. She suddenly began to writhe and giggle.

"Christian!"

Christian's large hand couldn't resist skimming up her exposed waist while innocently brushing the side of her breast. "Mmmm…" he moaned deep in his throat, a mixture of sleepy and husky, as Ana turned over so she was facing him. They were lying very close together, and Christian couldn't resist nuzzling his nose up against Ana's. They both smiled.

"Good morning," Ana whispered, pecking him on the lips before perching herself up on her elbow and glancing at her alarm clock behind him. "…or should I say afternoon?"

Christian turned over to look at the clock too – 1:46 pm.

"How'd you sleep?" Ana asked, lying back down so she and Christian were nose-to-nose again.

"Excellent. Way better than on the couch," Christian smirked, and Ana giggled. "This is probably the best nap I've ever taken."

"Same here," Ana yawned hugely, covering her mouth, and Christian thought she looked adorable doing that. "I usually can't sleep during the daytime, but I slept like the dead."

"Hmm," Christian agreed, a deep growl low in his throat. His hand was still resting on her waist, and he immediately took advantage by sliding it down and around toward her back and gently pushing up her shirt an inch or so.

Ana's breath hitched, and he smiled when he felt goosebumps creep onto her skin where his fingers touched her. Rubbing his thumb up and down on her skin, Christian slowly leaned in to kiss her, and Ana's blue eyes fluttered closed.

"You look so beautiful when you wake up. You know that?" Christian whispered against her lips, and Ana let out a contented sigh.

"Christian…" she breathed his name, the desire evident on her lips. That was all the persuasion he needed.

He pressed his lips against hers in a hungry kiss, running his hand up and down her back. She kissed him back with equal fervor, running her hand through his hair and tugging at his locks. Christian groaned; his heart thumped wildly in his chest as her mouth opened to grant his tongue access.

"Mmm," Ana moaned into his mouth, and Christian felt his dick hardening at the sound. He had never done anything like this before with a woman, but he loved the feeling of her body pressed up against his while his hand glided up and down the soft skin of her back. Her hands tugged at his hair as her tongue explored his, and he groaned.

He felt her hand slide down from his hair and trail down his jaw, resting there for a moment before moving down toward his chest…

Christian immediately tensed up, and his mind quickly snapped back to reality.

 _No – no, she can't touch me. This has to stop! NOW!_

"…Stop, stop it – get off," Christian wrenched his mouth away from hers as he quickly pushed her hand off his chest. Ana froze in place, looking shocked and hurt.

"Wh-what did I do?" she asked, flabbergasted at his reaction. The flash of panic Christian experienced was gone as soon as it had come, and now he just felt embarrassed by his outburst.

"God, Ana… I'm sorry," Christian whispered after a moment, breathing deeply to allow his heart-rate to return to normal, willing his panic to recede. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you – it was an instinctive reaction."

"What happened?" Ana whispered, still sounding scared and confused. Christian closed his eyes and rolled onto his back, facing the ceiling.

"…You touched my chest," he mumbled after a moment, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes. He was mortified, but he supposed it was about time she found out the truth.

"Oh," Ana mumbled quietly, but Christian could still hear the confusion in her voice. "Did you hurt yourself there or something?"

"I have haphephobia," he said quietly. "A pervasive fear of being touched."

Ana gasped. "Oh God, Christian…" She sounded horrified, and Christian looked at her. She was gazing at him with profound sympathy. "I had no idea – why didn't you tell me? I could have been more careful!"

"I'm sorry I didn't. I just… I was embarrassed. I didn't want you to know." Christian took her hand and gave it a small squeeze, gazing imploringly into her eyes. "Please don't hate me."

"Hate you? Oh, Christian…" Ana whispered sadly, her expression conveying overwhelming concern. She squeezed his hand back. "I could never hate you for something like this. But you and I were just –" she blushed, looking a bit embarrassed. "We were… touching. A lot. Why didn't you stop me? Didn't it bother you?"

"No. It's really only a problem when someone touches my chest or back," Christian explained. "Everywhere else is fine. What we were just doing…" Ana blushed again, and Christian grinned slightly. "…that was fine. More than fine, in fact."

"Have you always had a fear of being touched?"

Christian's smirk faded. "Since I was a child," he said quietly, but didn't elaborate any more.

Ana frowned at him, suddenly looking pensive and thoughtful. "So…" she muttered, sitting up, and Christian followed suit. "Is that why you practiced BDSM? Because of your touch issues?"

Christian's heart seemed to stop beating for a second – no, he couldn't tell her the real reason why he was involved in the lifestyle. She'd run away for sure… he couldn't risk that happening, not after everything that transpired last night.

"My touch issues were part of the reason, yes," Christian said hesitantly. He hoped she would drop the matter, but she was gazing at him, silently urging him to continue. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"My haphephobia was initially the reason the lifestyle appealed to me so much," he explained. "Before, I never thought I could have sex with a woman because she might've accidentally touched my back or chest. When I learned about BDSM, however, I found out I actually could have sex without the threat of a woman touching me. As long as she consented, I could restrain her hands or arms during our session, eliminating my fear of being touched by accident. It was ideal for me."

"But you said that was only part of the reason."

"Yes, it was. There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to my attraction to the lifestyle, Ana. Not all of them can be laid out in black and white terms: yes, my haphephobia was one of the reasons, but I also just liked the control it gave me. I've always felt the need to have control in my life – that's what helped me make a name for myself in the world of mergers and acquisitions. Control makes me good at what I do, and being a Dom helped me regain that control whenever I felt I had lost it."

"I see," Ana muttered. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, however, and after a moment she spoke: "Can I ask you a question?"

Christian nodded.

"How did you discover BDSM?"

Christian tensed up, his heart jumping erratically in his chest. _Why does she want to know?_ "Why do you ask?"

"Well, while your attraction to the lifestyle makes sense, I would think that you discovered it later on in life through experimentation – but you've told me before that BDSM is all you've ever known, which suggests you've been a part of it for a very long time. I guess I just feel like those two things need a bit more explanation."

God, why did she have to be so intuitive? Christian desperately wished he didn't have to approach this subject with her – not only for his sanity, but for hers. Would she want anything to do with him once she found out the truth about his fucked up past? Christian didn't know, but what he did know was that he had promised her full disclosure, and this was just another test of his ability to be honest with her.

Christian took a deep breath before looking Ana in the eye, willing his heart to slow its nervous, frenetic pace. "I was seduced by my mother's friend when I was fifteen. She's the one who introduced me to the lifestyle."

Silence reigned for several long, ringing seconds. There was practically no reaction on Ana's face; she just stared at him, eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape, shocked completely by what he said. "When you were fifteen?" she repeated quietly.

Christian nodded again, nervous about her reaction. _Oh God, she hates me…_

"You were molested?" The look of horror on Ana's face was enough to make Christian's heart sink to his stomach and his heart to shatter.

"I didn't think that at the time, but yes," Christian whispered, gazing at her imploringly. "The affair went on for several years – I never stopped it. And the way it happened… I thought it was for my own good. I was convinced Elena was helping me, that I needed to be controlled by her." Christian felt a sudden need, a sudden desperation to explain his actions. "I was a really troubled teenager, Ana, I… I drank a lot and I… got into fights…" His throat constricted painfully. "I thought she was helping me… I…"

"Christian," Ana quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. Christian immediately hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her waist like she was his life saver. The burn in his throat and behind his eyes wouldn't go away, and it took him a second to realize he was holding back tears.

"Shh… it's okay, Christian," Ana whispered, bringing a hand up to run through his hair. The act was very soothing, and the burn started to dissipate. "It's over now. You got out."

 _No, I didn't… I'll never be out._

"Ana, I promised to tell you everything today," Christian pulled back slightly to look at her nervously. "Do you still want to hear about my past?" He wasn't going to lie to her if she didn't want to hear about it, but he honestly hoped she wouldn't make him say anything more about the subject.

Ana gazed at him, and Christian wondered if she was even breathing. "You don't have to," she whispered after a moment. "But whatever you want to tell me, I'd like to hear it."

Christian let out a deep, shuddering sigh, and nodded, preparing himself. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this right – he tried not to think about how he had never said any of this out loud to anyone other than his therapist.

"I guess it all started with my birth mother," he began. He moved back so he was sitting against the headboard, and Ana scooted over so she could rest her head on his shoulder. Christian wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his side, grateful for her presence beside him. "I was adopted by the Grey's when I was four years old, but before that, I lived in Detroit with my biological mother. She was… neglectful, to say the least. She was almost never home to take care of me, and when she was, she almost always brought this one guy with her. I found out later in life that she was actually a hooker and the man with her was her pimp."

Ana didn't say anything, but her shoulders stiffened.

"The pimp was… a brutal man. And he didn't like me – he kept saying I was a waste of his hard-earned money. He would kick me around, throw me into the wall, and put out his cigarettes on my chest and back."

Ana let out a small, heartbroken whimper and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Christian closed his eyes, feeling soothed by her body pressed against him, comforting him.

"The abuse didn't last very long, since my mother died of an overdose when I was four. I was left alone with her body for several days, until the authorities came by and finally found her."

"God, Christian…" Ana whispered into his neck. She sounded like she was going to be sick. "That's horrible."

"It was all for the best," Christian said fairly. "I was able to get away from her abusive pimp, at least. The authorities brought me to the hospital, which was where Grace was working at the time. She took good care of me… I thought she was an angel sent from heaven. Next thing I knew, she and Carrick had filled out the forms to adopt me and we were all moving out to Seattle. I had a new family and a new life."

Christian could feel Ana smiling against his shoulder, and Christian couldn't help but smile slightly too.

"Over the years, though, I had issues adjusting to my adoptive family. As I mentioned before, I was a troubled kid: I would drink a lot and get into fights with my classmates. I got expelled from a lot of places, and my parents would send me to a different psychologist every week. Nothing seemed to help."

Ana didn't say anything, but Christian knew what she was thinking.

"That was, until I discovered BDSM," Christian said. "When Elena propositioned me, I didn't know if I would like BDSM, but it turned out to be the very thing I needed. It taught me how to control my emotions, how to accept punishments for my misdeeds – pretty soon I stopped drinking and stopped getting into fights. I was able to bring my grades up and even start acting like a member of my family again."

"Christian…" Ana said quietly, the dubiousness in her voice not lost on him.

"I know the way Elena did it was wrong," Christian said firmly. "I know that there were other, better ways I could have learned control, but at the time, I was convinced BDSM was what all I needed. I was convinced Elena only wanted what was best for me…" he trailed off.

"What happened?" Ana asked after a few moments.

Christian sighed. "The affair went on for three years. When I was eighteen, and when I started applying to different colleges, I ended up getting accepted into Harvard Business School in Cambridge. I was so excited to go, and my parents were so proud of me. With all the trouble I gave them as a kid, they thought it was a fucking miracle I had made it into an ivy league school. I was planning on getting my degree in Economics, and then I was going to start my own business and make a difference in the world. But then…" Christian's jaw clenched at the memory. "…I told Elena the news."

"She didn't want you to go?" Ana asked quietly.

"She was fucking livid. She said that under no circumstances was I to attend university all the way across the country, away from her. She demanded I not go, but I refused, and so she… took me to her dungeon to teach me a lesson."

"What did she do to you?" Ana breathed, horrified.

"I don't want to go into explicit detail," Christian said uncomfortably. "But it went way beyond a normal Dom/sub session. She was so angry, and she took it out on me physically – I was restrained, so I couldn't move or get away. It went on for hours, and I still have scars from some of it."

"God…" Ana whispered, sounding close to tears. Christian held her tighter.

"During that long session, though, I did a lot of thinking. I figured out that Elena didn't care about my happiness or well-being at all – she only cared that she was losing her boy toy. Her introducing me to the lifestyle wasn't to help me find control and self-worth, as she so often told me, but to give herself control over me. It all became so clear, and I knew I had to get away and get help – I lied and told Elena that I decided I wasn't going to Harvard. She didn't believe me, but I kept insisting it was true. When she finally let me go, she threatened that if I told anyone about what happened she would ruin me. But I didn't care – I went straight home and told my parents everything."

"Everything?"

"Well, not the specifics – just that Elena and I had been having an affair for the past three years. My parents were horrified, obviously, and they confronted Elena about it that night. She denied it all, obviously, but my dad ended up taking her to court about it. There was… evidence, you know. The police had searched her house, and found some incriminating stuff. I then gave my testimony in court and…"

"And what?" Ana asked.

Christian looked down at her. " _I_ ruined _her_ ," he said simply, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. Ana offered him a smile.

"Good for you," she whispered sincerely. "You got away from her."

Christian gazed down at Ana, uncertainty marring his features.

"What is it?" Ana frowned.

Christian sighed. "Even after Elena, I continued to practice BDSM, just the way she showed me. I continued on with the lifestyle I knew had broken me more than fixed me – I mean, what if I am a masochist? Or just unfixable? Maybe every attempt I make to fix myself just makes my situation worse…?"

"Christian," Ana said firmly. "Look at me."

Christian looked at her, and Ana stared at him for a moment before leaning in and kissing him on the lips. The sweet act calmed and centered him.

"You tried to fix yourself with pain, Christian," Ana whispered against his lips. "That was the problem. The fighting and BDSM didn't fix you because it was just pain. I understand, though, because that was all you had known as a child." Ana pulled back and stared at him straight in the eye. "You didn't know love, which is the only thing that fixes us. _Love_ … your birth mother and Elena, they didn't show you love, therefore you couldn't open yourself to it. Even though you _are_ loved, Christian. By Grace and Carrick, your brother and sister..." Ana's eyes glistened. "Even by me. You are loved."

Christian couldn't breathe; he couldn't think. He stared back at the beautiful blue-eyed angel that was Anastasia, the woman who showed him what it felt like to be loved.

 _Loved_

She loved him. And he loved her too.

"I know," he whispered, and Ana gave him a watery smile before leaning forward and pressing her forehead to his, closing her eyes while letting the tears fall down her face.

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! That chapter was a beast. But at least it's over now! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! You're all super awesome:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 8:32 am

SIP

~Susannah~

"'Morning Claire," Susannah smiled at her friend as she walked into the foyer of SIP on Monday morning.

Claire made no response, and Susannah paused in her trek toward the annex, a furrow in her brow. She turned around to look at Claire, who was determinedly typing something on her computer.

"Claire? I said good morning," Susannah walked over to the secretary's desk, a frown on her face.

"I know," Claire said loftily, still typing away on her keyboard. Susannah looked at her for a second before letting out a sigh and setting down her bag.

"Alright, what's the matter?" she said resignedly, leaning on the counter while gazing at her friend.

"Nothing's the matter," Claire shrugged, brushing it off like it was nothing. "How was your weekend?"

"You mean my at my secret double life?" Susannah said sarcastically, and Claire finally looked at her. "Is that what you want to know?"

"What did Ana tell you?"

"She didn't tell me anything," Susannah said defensively, feeling a low pang in her gut at the thought of her friend. Susannah figured she would be lucky if Ana told her anything anymore. "All last week you'd been acting really weird around me – why do you think something's going on with me?"

"Why do you have a platinum diamond bracelet?" Claire shot back. Susannah's heart seemed to stop in her throat.

"What?" she asked after a moment. "How did you know about that?"

"I found it in your desk," Claire said, glancing away and not meeting her eyes. "Where did you get it?"

"You went through my desk?" Susannah's voice rose angrily. "Why?"

"Because you're hiding something, and I want to know what!" Claire insisted. "Whatever it is, you obviously don't feel like it's worth telling one of your closest friends! How do you think that makes me feel?"

Susannah glared at her. "What I do on my own time is none of your business, Claire!"

"Just tell her, Susannah." A voice behind them spoke up.

Claire and Susannah turned to see Ana approaching them from the front door, obviously walking in to work for the day. Susannah stared at her warily.

"She's not going to give up until you tell her," Ana continued, stopping beside Susannah and looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Just tell her."

Susannah's heart beat faster in her chest as her panic increased. Oh, shit – was Ana actually about to reveal to Claire her big secret?

"Remember, what you told me last week?" Ana continued, nodding her head as if trying to jog Susannah's memory.

 _Please God, no._

"Ana…" Susannah said beseechingly.

"About the photoshoot?" Ana continued firmly. Susannah blinked.

 _Wait – what?_

"Photoshoot?" Claire asked, glancing between Susannah and Ana.

"Susannah was picked up by a modeling agency," Ana turned to look at Claire. "She's been doing photo ops every weekend in different locations for the past few months. That's what she's really been doing every weekend."

"Oh my God," Claire gasped, turning her wide eyes onto Susannah. "You told us you were visiting your brother!"

Susannah opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She wasn't entirely sure what was happening.

"Obviously, she lied," Ana glanced at Susannah again. "She's been secretly doing some modeling on the side – that's why you saw her all dressed up last Saturday, Claire. She was going to a shoot on location."

"Oh my God," Claire said again, a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "That makes total sense! But why didn't you tell us you were modeling on the weekends, Susannah?"

Again, Susannah opened her mouth, but seemed to have lost the ability to speak. It was just beginning to register what exactly Ana was doing for her, and Susannah knew that she had to corroborate.

"Uhm… it was a money thing," she finally said evasively to Claire before glancing at Ana again. "I guess I was just embarrassed about it, that's all."

Susannah knew she had said the right thing because Claire seemed to soften towards her immediately. "Oh, Susie – money issues are nothing to be embarrassed about! A lot of people struggle with it, not just you!"

"I guess," Susannah mumbled.

"So do you get paid a lot to be a model?"

Susannah blinked, unsure of how to proceed from here. "Um… well, actually–"

"Actually, Susannah's not a model anymore," Ana overrode her quickly. Susannah and Claire both looked at her.

"Really, why not?" Claire glanced between the two of them interestedly.

"It was because of that one photographer – right Susannah?" Ana turned to look expectantly at Susannah, who gazed back at her with wide eyes.

"Um… yeah," Susannah agreed quickly, turning back to Claire. "Yeah, uh… this photographer and I… we, uh, got into a fight."

"Really? What happened?" Claire gazed up at her, eyes wide with interest. It was Ana who answered, however.

"He called her up on Friday night a couple weeks ago about one of her recent shoots," Ana explained without batting an eyelash. "He said some _really_ awful things to her, like how she wasn't pretty or skinny enough to cut it in the industry." She grimaced in a believable display of empathy.

Claire instantly bristled. "Are you _kidding_ me?" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "Some asshole actually _said_ that?! Oh my God, Susie, I'm so sorry!" Claire ran around her desk and embraced Susannah tightly, causing her to stagger slightly. "That's horrible! No wonder you were so upset that weekend!"

"Um… it's okay Claire," Susannah said soothingly, patting her on the back. "I'm alright now. Don't worry about me."

"Well, I'm glad you quit – no one should ever have to put up with that shit!" Claire pulled away from Susannah, but still held her firmly by the shoulders, staring fiercely into her eyes. "You are a beautiful, skinny, gorgeous, hot young woman, Susie, and you should never, EVER have to put up with anyone saying otherwise!"

"Okay, Claire," Susannah nodded, trying not to sound amused. "Thank you, but I need to get to my desk now…"

Claire, however, continued with her angry rantings about the modeling industry and her positive body image affirmations for another minute or so before Susannah was finally able to extract herself and move away toward the annex. Ana silently waited for Claire to calm down before walking over to their desk area with Susannah. They walked side-by-side, as if everything was completely normal between them, but Susannah was still reeling slightly from that lie they told.

"Thank you," she said quietly to Ana once they were out of earshot. "You didn't have to do that for me. But thank you."

"It was the least I could do. She was being relentless," Ana grimaced and shook her head. "No one should have to put up with Claire when she gets that tenacious."

"Yeah…" Susannah smiled awkwardly, looking down at her feet. There was a brief pause between them as they walked along, and they reached their desks in a relatively amicable silence.

Susannah stood by her desk for a moment before turning to look at Ana. "Y'know, for a second there, I thought you were going to tell her… well…" she shrugged, blushing slightly. "I thought you were going to tell her the truth about me."

Ana grimaced before shaking her head and waving her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

She was clearly not comfortable discussing all the stuff that happened between them last week, but Susannah was eager to get her feelings out into the open. She spoke up again: "No, I'm serious, Ana. After what happened between us, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to out me to everyone at work."

Ana bit her lip and glanced around the relatively empty office space for a second before turning back to Susannah, speaking at a low volume. "Look – Christian told me that you didn't want anyone at work to know about your past, which I can understand. And I figured you wanted to keep up the façade, for Claire at least."

"I do, and I appreciate you lying for me," Susannah said sincerely, keeping her voice down as well. "But seriously, though. I think we need to talk–" At that moment, however, some of their coworkers suddenly entered the annex to start their work day, chatting casually with one another. Ana glanced at them all before turning back to Susannah.

"We do need to talk, but let's do it at lunch," Ana said quietly, sitting down in her desk chair to get to work. "Alright?"

Susannah nodded immediately. "Sure," she said, sitting down in her chair as well. "We can go out somewhere. My treat," she added, and was relieved to see Ana grin slightly at that.

"Deal."

* * *

Understandably, this morning was a busy one for the entire SIP staff. Their day off last week had resulted in a lot of extra work piling up, especially for Ana – Cynthia Cormann's final draft finally came in, and it was now crunch time to get her manuscript triple-checked for errors before sending it out to design and publication. Susannah and the other copyeditors all pitched in to help, and by 12:30, a decent amount of the book had been finished. When it was finally their lunch break, though, Ana and Susannah eagerly stepped out of the office together, happy to be away from their manuals for at least a little while.

Neither of them were in the mood for fast food, and Ana had noticed a group of their fellow editors heading into their favorite deli across the street, so they inevitably agreed upon a mediocre Chinese buffet several blocks from their work building. It was out of the main way of SIP lunch goers, and it was crowded enough with other business people that Susannah was sure their talk wouldn't be overheard.

"Mm, stale eggrolls," Ana snickered once she and Susannah had returned to their table with plates of food. She prodded one of her hard pork rolls with a chopstick and Susannah giggled.

"At least you don't have any of this frozen sushi," she said, holding up what looked like a cold mushy rice ball.

"Still, I'd rather be eating here than working on Cynthia's book right now," Ana sighed, scooping up some General Tso's chicken into her mouth. "I am so done with _Vertigo Aligns_ it's not even funny."

Susannah laughed again, and the two of them complained about work for a few more minutes afterward, conveniently not bringing up the actual reason their lunch outing today. Susannah was just grateful Ana was even on speaking terms with her right now.

"I think Tony mentioned to me he likes eating at this place," Susannah said idly after a small lull in the conversation. She glanced around the small dining room they were in. "I don't know, maybe old wantons are an acquired taste for some people."

She giggled at her little joke, but when she looked over at Ana again, she noticed that her expression had become oddly guarded. "What?" Susannah asked hesitantly, worried she had said something wrong.

Ana shook her head, biting her lip slightly. "Nothing… it's just that Christian mentioned to me that you'd left the BDSM lifestyle. I figured it was because of Tony."

Susannah heart seemed to lurch in her chest slightly at the mention of her past predilections. She swallowed, reminding herself that it had to have been brought up at some point. "Um... yeah, Tony was the main reason for me leaving the lifestyle," she conceded uncomfortably, glancing down at her plate of food. "But I think I still would have given it up even if I hadn't met him."

She hesitated a moment before glancing back up at Ana, who was looking at her confusedly. "Really? Why?"

Susannah hesitated again, unsure if this was a topic she wanted to continue talking about. It was one thing for Ana to simply be aware of her old lifestyle, but it was another thing for Susannah to go into an in-depth explanation about her reasons for being a submissive.

"It's okay, Susannah," Ana said after a moment, sensing her friend's reluctance to speak. "You can talk to me about your past. I know that it's kind of weird right now, and it might be weird for a while afterward, but we were eventually going to have to have this discussion. Christian and I had a long conversation about it last week, but I still feel that you and I need to talk things out a bit before we all try to move on."

Susannah felt a bit stunned by her words; she had sort of assumed Ana was going to shun her for what she had found out about her and Grey's past, but now it sounded like she was simply trying to work through it. Ana was easily one of the strongest people Susannah knew, which caused her guilt over the whole situation to increase significantly.

Susannah sighed slightly before speaking again, gazing down at her plate once more: "I'm sorry, Ana. It's just that… I've never had to talk about this with anyone before. My brother knows a little bit about it, and Tony and I talked through it a little last week, but for the most part, I've kept my involvement with the lifestyle completely to myself. That way, I never had to justify my choices to anyone, and consequently, I could hide away from my own personal issues. It was a win-win situation, I guess."

Ana stared at her. "So is that why you left the lifestyle?" she asked quietly after a moment. "You felt like you couldn't hide anymore?"

Susannah nodded. "Recently, it just felt like everything in my life had converged together – nothing felt right to me, and I was no longer getting any satisfaction through my submission. I guess I had reached a point in my life where I realized I needed to just take an active step toward my happiness instead of wallowing in what was normal for me."

Ana looked uncomfortable, and it was with a fair amount of reluctance when she asked: "So Dominants can't… satisfy you anymore?"

Susannah blushed, knowing she was referring to Grey. "No. At one point, maybe they could've, but the truth is, I don't think I can been satisfied by any Dominant again, no matter how experienced he is. The whole point of submission is the thrill of the power exchange, and that just isn't doing anything for me anymore."

Ana frowned thoughtfully, and she hesitated a second or two before speaking up again: "When Christian told me about the submissives he contracted, all I could picture was a bunch of faceless women on the outskirts of society with these dark, masochistic tendencies. I never would've thought that someone like _you_ … I mean…" Ana gestured toward her, looking awkward. "You're _you_. I know you, and you're... normal."

Susannah smiled. "I get it, Ana - I know we got typecast sometimes, but the truth is that there are actually all kinds of women in the lifestyle. I was never really a masochist – the more brutal aspects of the lifestyle held no appeal to me, as it does for some women. I just sort of saw submission as a means of catharsis."

Ana knit her eyebrows. "Catharsis? How so?"

Susannah thought about her answer for a second before speaking. "I guess because I wouldn't have to make any decisions as a submissive. I had no responsibilities, no obligations, and no worries… my Dominant would take care of me, and I would put my complete and total trust in him. At its best, my submission was like a mind vacation, and for a while it became something I felt I couldn't live without."

Ana looked a bit surprised by that explanation. "Well, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound so bad…" she muttered thoughtfully.

"Ana, I'm not trying to glorify what I used to do," Susannah said seriously. "This lifestyle isn't for everyone – if I could take back what I did with Mr. Grey, I would. And not just because I know you like him." Susannah shook her head regretfully. "I mean, when I thought he had made you into his submissive, I nearly lost it!"

"You did kind of overreact," Ana agreed, smirking amusedly at her. "I think clocking him in the face was a bit much."

"Yeah… I apologized to him about that," Susannah looked down at her hands uncomfortably. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"It's okay," Ana said kindly. When Susannah looked surprised, however, Ana just smiled, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I know that it's _not_ okay that you hit my boyfriend in the face, especially since he didn't do anything to deserve it, but… it's okay in the sense that I know you were willing to stick up for me like that." Ana paused for a moment before smiling at Susannah sincerely. "If a guy ever did mistreat me, I know that I can count on my friend to protect me."

Susannah didn't know what to say – she could only stare at Ana, her sweet words filling her heart with new hope. _Her friend_ … despite all the pain she had put Ana through these past few days, Ana was selfless and kindhearted enough to see that Susannah had defended her with the best of intentions. Susannah couldn't believe how lucky she was to know someone like Ana.

"Always," Susannah said with utter sincerity. Ana smiled at her.

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 **A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. Also, quick shoutout to angie8190 for your words of encouragement:)**


	32. Chapter 32

**0A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! A lot of interesting responses to Ana and Susannah's reconciliation.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 1:30 pm

SIP

~Ana~

"Susannah, can I see you in my office for a minute?"

Susannah and Ana had just finished up their lunch at the Chinese buffet, and had walked back into SIP to see Marcy waiting for them by their desk clump.

"Um, sure," Susannah said immediately, glancing at Ana with her eyebrows raised before depositing her bag at her desk and walking over to Marcy.

"Ana, I want at least three more chapters of _Vertigo Aligns_ done by the end of the day," Marcy directed firmly at Ana, who nodded obediently. "Get Rhys and Caroline to help you out if you need it. Susannah should be back in twenty minutes or so to assist you too. Susannah?" Marcy turned and began to head toward her office, and Susannah gave a small smile to Ana before following her away.

Ana sat down at her desk and booted up her computer, watching Susannah's and Marcy's retreating figures head into her office. She thought idly back to the lunch she and Susannah just had, and felt an inexplicable weird feeling fill her chest – it was the same discomfort that periodically resurfaced ever since she had found out the truth of Susannah and Christian.

She had told Susannah earlier today that she didn't blame her for lying to her – and it was the truth. She honestly didn't feel resentment toward Susannah about hiding her true relationship with Christian, because she understood the circumstances under which their arrangement was made. Her brain understood it, at least – her heart, on the other hand, still struggled with the thought of the two of them together. It had taken her a few days to get to the point of true forgiveness, but she had eventually gotten there; Susannah was her friend, and Ana knew that _she_ would want to be forgiven if she was in her situation.

That weird discomfort filled Ana's chest once again, making her heart thump a little faster, and she wondered if it was guilt she was feeling. Guilt and disgust. If she was completely honest with herself, she was still legitimately horrified thinking about what Susannah used to do – not just the stuff she did with Christian, but just in a general BDSM context. At the same time, however, Ana also couldn't help but feel guilty for thinking of her friend in that sort of way. Perhaps she was being a bit judgmental, but Ana was still having a difficult time distinguishing between what Susannah claimed she used to do and what Ana's preconceived notions of what a submissive is supposed to be. Chalk it up to inexperience, but Ana still couldn't shake the image of Susannah being some kind of sick, twisted sexual sadist behind closed doors.

Christian had been in the lifestyle too, though, Ana knew. Why didn't she feel the same sort of disgust when thinking about the stuff he did? She supposed because the two of them had had a lot of talks about it over the weekend – she and Christian had spent pretty much every night just talking about his past; him explaining what it was and why he did it, and Ana listening with an open mind. Ana definitely felt she had a better grasp on the stuff Christian used to do… but Susannah was still a different story.

Ana sighed; even with their lunch today, it felt like a lot of stuff between her and Susannah was still pretty unresolved. She hoped that, over time, the weird feeling in her chest would eventually go away, and that she and Susannah could go back to how they once were.

"Hi Ana."

Ana blinked and glanced up, surprised to see a familiar, dirty blonde-haired guy approach her desk. He was wearing a blue flannel shirt and a big smile on his face.

"Tony!" Ana grinned brightly, standing up to greet him. "It's great to see you! How've you been?"

"I've been good – I had a day off from working the store today, though, so I thought I'd stop by to surprise Susannah. Is she around?"

"She's in a meeting with our boss right now. She should be back any minute," Ana said, leaning against her desk.

Tony looked concerned as he leaned on the desk beside her. "A meeting with your boss? She's not in trouble, is she?"

"Oh no, of course not," Ana said immediately, but realized a moment later she had no idea why Marcy wanted to meet with Susannah.

"Looks busy around here," Tony glanced around the office area after a moment, watching several editors and marketing people bustle past them, some of them talking urgently with one another. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"No, not really. It's just that this whole week is crunch time to get Cynthia Cormann's new book edited and ready for publication. Everyone's just kind of on edge right now."

"Oh, that sucks," Tony frowned. "I promise I won't stay too long – I just have a surprise for Susannah and then I'll be out of your hair."

"Oh, that's okay – I'm sure Susannah will be happy to see you," Ana smiled at him. "And it'll be a good excuse not to address the massive pile of work she has to do, so that's a bonus."

Tony chuckled. "Well, good. I can't say I'm familiar to this whole 'office environment' stuff – my work experience pretty much begins and ends with Finn's Corner."

"It's not so different, I think. Once we have the book published, aren't you and Mallory going to be selling it at the store?"

"Yup. We've just put in an order for a hundred copies," Tony grinned. "They're supposed to be coming in about two weeks, though, so you better get a move on with the whole publishing part of it."

Ana laughed, and for a couple minutes the two of them just chatted about Finn's Corner and book sales. She suddenly remembered that Susannah had mentioned that Tony knew a little bit about her past, and though she felt tempted to probe him for information, she refrained. It wasn't exactly a topic she wanted to bring up again today.

"…So what have you and Susannah been up to lately?" Tony asked after a lull in the conversation. "I haven't talked to her in a few days, but she mentioned that you guys hung out a bit last week?"

Ana felt her heart catch in her throat a little, and she felt her smile fade slightly. "Um, yeah… she and I hung out a bit last Wednesday, and we actually just went out for lunch today."

The expression on her face must have given away her inner feelings, because Tony was now looking at her rather oddly. "Oh… I'm sorry, did you two get in a fight or something? I mean, I don't want to get in the middle of anything…"

"Oh, no! No, it's nothing like that," Ana insisted, her heart pounding uncomfortably in her chest. She reminded herself that Tony knew of Susannah's past, and that maybe he could help her get over whatever this weird feeling was. "I just… I recently found out a little bit about Susannah's past, which I know she's told you about already, and I guess I'm still having a bit of a hard time digesting it."

A look of dawning comprehension spread across Tony's face, and he slowly started to nod. "Oh, I see – yeah, she did tell me a bit about that. It freaked you out a little too?"

Ana nodded, almost too eagerly. "Yeah! I mean, I just didn't expect someone like her to… you know… be involved in that sort of stuff."

"I was surprised too," Tony admitted. "I mean, when I first laid eyes on her at Finn's Corner, all I could focus on was how beautiful she looked. I never in a million years would have thought that that beautiful girl would be involved with this kind of sadistic lifestyle."

"Are you still kind of weirded out by it? I mean, I know that your relationship with her is a bit different from mine, but doesn't that almost make it worse?"

Tony thought for a second before shrugging. "I don't know. It was kind of a shock when she first told me, obviously, but over time, I guess I just became more used to the idea of it. And that whole lifestyle is all in her past anyway – it's not like it's going to carry weight in our own relationship."

Ana's skepticism must have shown on her face, because after a moment Tony grinned at her knowingly. "You think I'm being naïve, don't you?"

Ana blushed slightly before shrugging, a small grin on her face. "Sorry."

Tony laughed. "Don't be – I probably am being naïve, and I realize Susannah and I have only known each other a short time, but I honestly do trust her. She was completely honest with me about her past, and she made it perfectly clear to me that she wants to start over and try for a real relationship. Quite simply, I want to be the one to help her with that."

"But what if she can't? Start over, I mean." Ana's brow furrowed. She was referring only partly to Susannah.

"If she can't, she can't," Tony shrugged. "I know she wants to try for a normal relationship right now, but if it turns out in the future she feels she still needs that lifestyle, then I would try to accommodate. I care about Susannah, and, weird lifestyle or not, I just want to be with her. And I need to trust that she wants to be with me too."

Ana smile slightly at him. "You really like her."

Tony glanced down at his feet, a silly grin spreading out across his face. "Yeah, I really do."

"Can I ask…?" Ana hesitated after a moment, feeling weirdly nervous about what she was going to ask. "Has she told you… exactly _who_ she's been with?"

"Oh no," Tony quickly shook his head, a small, humorless chuckle on his lips. "No, she hasn't told me that. And I definitely wouldn't want to know."

"Really?" Ana was surprised. "You're not even a little bit curious?"

"Of course I'm curious, but knowing exactly who were the men she used to be with isn't going to help anything." He shook his head. "That's a kind of jealousy I can definitely live without."

Ana's heart thudded a little faster. _Jealousy?_ Was she jealous of Susannah? Was that the weird discomfort she had been experiencing for the last few days, since she had found out about her and Christian's past together?

"Tony?"

Susannah had finally returned from Marcy's office, and a huge smile had lit up her face when she noticed her boyfriend by her desk. Tony quickly rose to his feet, grinning just as widely as her. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you," he said brightly, moving over toward her and pulling her into his arms. Susannah smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"How sweet of you," she giggled before leaning in and capturing his lips with her own. Ana turned away from the small spectacle, biting back a smile. Those two seemed to have completely forgotten other people were in this office.

Thankfully, at that moment, Ana's desk phone rang, and she quickly moved over to answer it. "Can you two lovebirds reunite somewhere else?" She turned to them with a smile. "Some of us have actual work to do."

Tony and Susannah broke apart, blushing profusely when they remembered that they were in a public office, and they agreed to move their little reunion to the break room. Tony whispered something in Susannah's ear about having a surprise for her, and Susannah's eyes lit up. She took him by the hand and they moved toward the break room, Ana watching their retreating figures. The supposed jealousy she had been feeling over Susannah and Christian suddenly seemed so stupid now.

With a small sigh, Ana finally sat down at her desk and picked up her ringing phone. "Ana Steele speaking."

"Anastasia!" A familiar voice sounded from the other end.

Ana froze, a familiar pinch of dread low in her gut at the sound of the woman's voice. "Oh, hi Cynthia," she said, trying but probably failing to sound upbeat.

"How are you, darling? Everything is well, I hope?"

"Everything's great," Ana said in a voice she hoped didn't sound too insincere. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Oh, Anastasia, darling, can't a girl just take a few minutes out of her day to talk to her favorite editor?" Cynthia exclaimed innocently, and Ana refrained from rolling her eyes. "But now that you mention it, I suppose I'd like to know how my is book coming along with you guys. You all got my full manuscript?"

Ana pursed her lips. "Yup, we did. It's all coming along great," she said with professional politeness. "All of us here are really excited to be working on it. We're just trying to get the last chapters edited before sending it out for publication, though."

"Oh, which chapter are you on?" She asked excitedly, ignoring Ana's subtle remark that she really needed to get back to her editing. "Did you get to the Brimstone Street fire yet? I had _such_ trouble with that particular part, but I believe the feeling of loss and despair was conveyed pretty thoroughly with Benny in the following scene…"

And off she went, talking about themes and aspects of the story Ana couldn't give two shits about. Cynthia often tried to get Ana and other SIP editors to swoon over her latest novel, despite the fact that they all had to correct its many, _many_ errors over the last month or so. You can ask any publishing house employee how damn near impossible it is for them to be even remotely interested in a book after giving its manuscript a third-round edit.

"…I know I reused the 'stairway to heaven' metaphor in chapter eight, but I hope my fans will forgive me for the little payoff in the climax!" Cynthia laughed heartily, as if she and Ana were sharing a private joke. "Wouldn't you agree, dear?"

Ana made a noise in the back of her throat to indicate her affirmation, but secretly began to resent Cynthia's attitude. Cynthia was a very rich woman, and her book sales were a strong indication of that, but she always had that habit of making the 'lower-class' people of SIP feel talked down to and dumb.

"Cynthia, as much as I would love to talk to you all day about your new novel…" Ana began with as much sincerity as she could muster. "… I really do need to get back to work. My boss has me on a deadline today."

"Ah, yes – of course, dear," Cynthia said sweetly. "I do apologize. Being a writer, I sometimes forget that other people have to work in an office for a living! I'll be done shortly, but there is something that I wish to discuss with you which should only take a minute of your time."

"Oh? What about?"

"My book, of course! As you know, _Vertigo Aligns_ is going to be published in a couple weeks…" _No shit, Sherlock. You're speaking to your goddamn publisher!_ "…And once it hits the shelves, I'll be throwing a little get-together with some friends of mine in Bellevue. If it's agreeable with you, I would like to extend an invitation to you to attend as my personal guest."

Ana was speechless for a moment. "Wow," she said after a moment, completely flabbergasted. "Thank you, Cynthia – this is very kind of you. I would love to attend."

"Wonderful! I'll send you all the details via email, but the party will be on my release date, November 18th. And it's in the evening, so it's black-tie," Cynthia threw in, as if it were no big deal. "Marcy and Marco will also be in attendance, but that's just a courtesy for them, you understand. _You_ are going to be the real star of SIP guests."

"Well, I don't know about that, Cynthia," Ana chuckled. "Marcy and Marco have worked much harder for their jobs than most of us have. I'm not that special."

" _Au contraire_ , my dear! Marcy and Marco know all about the ins and outs of the publishing business, and for them events like this would be tedious and dull. But for _you_ … this party can be a real chance for you to shine like the jewel you are in front of all my friends and fans. My book would never see the light of day if not for you!"

Well, she had a point there. But Ana still couldn't squash the strong suspicion she had that Cynthia was just trying to find "regular" people to show off all her wealth and opulence to. Ana figured if that was her role to play in all this, so be it. She forced a smile on her face: "That's very sweet of you, Cynthia! I'm really looking forward to it."

"Oh, wonderful dear – so am I! I'll just send you the information and then I'll let you get back to your work, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Cynthia."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, dear. _Ciao_ , darling!" she said, and before Ana could say farewell, she hung up the phone.

Ana grimaced. "…Goodbye," she mumbled to nobody before setting her phone back in the holster. Typical Cynthia.

However, being invited to her release day party was a huge honor, Ana knew. If SIP had bigger clients and more funding, they would probably be the ones throwing a party, but Cynthia clearly wouldn't have it any other way. She often threw events for herself whenever she wrote a new novel, and as a result, her newest book would almost always be the talk of the town. This woman really knew how to market herself, Ana had to admit.

Ana's email dinged with a new message just as Tony and Susannah emerged from the break room. Susannah was grinning from ear to ear, holding onto what looked like two Mariners tickets as she and Tony stopped at her desk. She looked up at him; he silently stepped forward and kissed her chastely on the lips, smiling against her before pulling away and whispering "I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?" Susannah nodded, her eyes shining with affection as Tony gave her one last peck and turned to leave, waving a polite goodbye to Ana as he went.

Ana was tempted to tease Susannah for that little love display, but stopped herself. She had just opened up the invitation Cynthia had sent her, and her brain was temporarily frozen in surprise as she read it:

 _Ms. Cynthia Cormann, Dr. Alexandre Preston, and Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey cordially invite you to:_

 _ **Vertigo Aligns Launch Day Gala  
**_ _Date: Friday, November 18_ _th  
_ _Time: 6:30-11:00 pm  
_ _Place: The Grey Estate_

 _The proceeds from the evening will be donated to the St. Jude Children's Foundations in conjunction with Dr. Preston and Dr. Trevelyan-Grey._

 _Please RSVP in order to receive your free copy of Vertigo Aligns upon your arrival._

Well, it looked like Ana wasn't going to be such a regular Joe at this thing after all.

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 **A/N: Thanks for all the support guys! Hope you all liked this chapter - if you did, please read and review!**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! And sorry for the slight delay - things on my end have been pretty crazy latelyy. Here's hoping the next chapter will be better:)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Monday, 6:45 pm

Escala

~Christian~

Christian had had the work day from hell – he had finally fired Leonard, his CFO from New York, over some misplaced financials one of his CPAs had found. It wasn't as huge a fuck-up as the legal issue from a few weeks ago, but this mistake was the last straw, and Christian had had enough of Leonard bullshitting his way out of these situations. Leonard's COO, Gretzky, was a much more competent man, but was now taking on a whole lot more responsibility than usual, as well as dealing with the fallout from Leonard's termination. Christian knew he was going to have to keep an eye on Gretzky for the next few months in order to see if he could handle the job. Not only all that, but Akio Tadashi was now insisting he wanted the first quarter projections on their solar power plant, and Christian was going to have to crack some department head skulls in order to get a good estimate for him. Needless to say, this day had been a difficult one.

But it was all going to be worth it, because he was seeing Anastasia again tonight.

Christian had spent all Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday with Ana at her apartment, talking through everything that had happened between them. The nights only consisted of talking, and nothing more; there were other, more intimate activities Christian very much wanted to do with Ana, but he understood these talks were necessary if they wanted their relationship to move forward. During their talks, Christian had been completely honest with her about all that had occurred between him and Susannah, as well as with his past submissives, and Ana was honest with him about what she was feeling. Christian fervently wished he hadn't had to unload so much crap on her, but he understood the necessity of it, and he hoped more than ever that the worst was now behind them.

Christian had arrived back home a quarter to seven, which was only fifteen minutes before Ana said she would arrive. He knew he needed to hurry, so he brushed past the kitchen, saying a polite hello to Gail who was making a pork roast for dinner, and went into his room to change out of his work clothes. He still wanted to look presentable for Ana tonight, so he opted for tan dress pants, a black button-down shirt that was open at the collar, and brown leather shoes. He knew he looked good, but his insides were still a bundle of nerves about seeing her again tonight.

Was it normal for a girl to make you feel things that caused your heart to beat like crazy all the time? Christian wished he knew.

A few minutes later, Taylor texted to say that Ana had arrived, and Christian emerged to head into the great room and greet her. She was standing near the foyer with her coat and purse in her arms, looking around the place with a small smile on her face. She was wearing a simple pastel teal day dress and nude heels, and one side of her long, wavy hair was pinned back with a silver barrette. She looked the perfect combination of casual and dressy, and Christian's aforementioned heart almost beat right out of his chest. She was absolutely breathtaking.

"Miss Steele," Christian said, approaching her with a smile on his face. Ana smiled shyly back at him. "You look beautiful this evening."

"Thank you, Mr. Grey. And you look very handsome yourself," she said with an adorable blush. Christian was now standing in front of her, and he leaned down to press his lips against hers. She kissed him back, opening her mouth against his; Christian's heart swelled, and he felt that he could just stand here forever kissing this beautiful woman, but he knew that if they didn't stop, their dinner would get cold. He reluctantly pulled away.

"Let's go eat," he breathed, mere inches from her face. "Before I decide to take you right here."

Ana blushed, and Christian couldn't fight the smile that spread across his face as he took Ana's hand and led her to the kitchen.

"Ana, this is my housekeeper, Gail Jones. Gail, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Miss Anastasia Steele," Christian said to a middle-aged blonde woman standing at the marble countertop. She turned around and smiled at Ana, who smiled politely back.

"Ms. Steele, it's a pleasure to meet you," Gail said kindly, moving forward to shake her hand. Ana smiled and shook her hand back with equal warmth.

"You too, Gail. May I call you Gail?"

"Of course. Can I get you and Mr. Grey something to drink before dinner?" she asked politely, moving toward the fridge.

"I'll have a glass of white wine," Christian said, pulling out a chair at the dining table for Ana to sit down on. "What would you like, Ana?"

"A glass of unsweetened iced tea, if you have it," she said shyly, scooting her chair up closer to the table.

"Coming right up," Gail said brightly, moving toward the refrigerator. "The pork is in the oven right now, and everything should be ready in about five minutes."

"Thank you," Christian said, taking the seat adjacent to Ana. He then turned to her, his eyes smoldering the tiniest hint. "And how was your day, Anastasia?"

"My day was very interesting. How was yours, Christian?" Ana asked, her blue eyes glinting with a smile.

"Awful. But it's getting much better now," Christian grinned, and Ana blushed cutely. Gail then appeared and placed the drinks down in front of the two of them before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Ana took a sip of her iced tea while smiling up at Christian. "So what made your day so awful?"

Christian waved his hand dismissively. "Oh just usual work stuff. Layoffs and impending deadlines and whatnot… I'd much rather hear about your day."

"Well," Ana hesitated a moment, her once smiling face suddenly turning into a frown. "Susannah and I had a chance to talk today."

Christian sobered instantly. He knew this was conversation she had been dreading all weekend. "How'd it go?"

Ana sighed. "All right, I suppose. We went out for lunch together and just chatted for a while. Then we got into a more serious conversation about her reasons for being a submissive and why she left the lifestyle. She was very forthcoming…" Ana looked thoughtful for a second before grimacing. "I think things will be okay between us, though."

"Really?" Christian asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah. It's still a little weird right now, and it might be for a while, but I have a feeling everything's going to be okay."

Christian nodded. "Good," he said supportively. He honestly didn't know how comfortable he felt about Susannah and Ana continuing their friendship, but he knew he had no right to tell Ana how to live her life. Ana wanted to try to work things out with Susannah, and Christian just wanted Ana to be happy.

"Dinner is ready, Mr. Grey, Ms. Steele," Gail suddenly appeared at the dining table, carrying a platter of the succulent-looking pork roast to the table and setting it down before them.

"Oh, let me help you!" Ana said to Gail, quickly getting to her feet.

"Oh, no dear – please don't trouble yourself," Gail insisted kindly. "You and Mr. Grey just sit down and relax. I'll take care of everything, don't worry about it."

"It's okay, Ana," Christian said encouragingly when she remained on her feet, and Gail bustled back into the kitchen. "This is her job – come, sit down."

Ana reluctantly took her seat, grimacing uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm not used to being waited on."

"It's quite alright," Christian smiled as Gail walked back into the dining room, laden with dishes containing sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, and salad with raspberry vinaigrette. "Thank you, Gail."

"Yes, thank you," Ana said sincerely. "It all looks delicious."

"You're very welcome, dear. Please enjoy," Gail smiled before turning and walking back into the kitchen to clean up.

Christian and Ana then dug into their food – everything tasted marvelous, but Christian wouldn't have expected anything less from his wonderful housekeeper. He was very happy to see Ana piling her plate with food and eating everything with a hearty appetite, though he felt significantly less happy when she explained she hadn't eaten anything all day except half a plate of bad Chinese food.

"…Oh, I almost forgot!" Ana said before Christian could chastise her for not feeding herself enough. "I got a very interesting phone call today – from none other than Cynthia Cormann."

"The author?" Christian raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah – you work with her, don't you?"

"Technically, _we_ work with her," Ana smirked at him, and he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "But her calling me wasn't the interesting part: she was calling to invite me to her book release party, which apparently is going to be hosted by your mother at the Grey Estate."

This was news to Christian; he stared at Ana, his mouth gaping open slightly. "Seriously? I wasn't even aware my mother was hosting a release party – why wouldn't she mention it to me?"

"Maybe 'cause you're not important enough to be invited," Ana teased, and Christian's shocked expression turned into a laugh. "Face it, Grey – you don't have as much clout in this city as you thought you did."

"I suppose I don't," Christian grinned at Ana, and she giggled. "I guess I'll have to rely on my super-popular, socialite girlfriend to help me move up in the world."

"You know it," Ana laughed again, and Christian couldn't help but smile wider. God, he could get used to hearing her laugh like this, even when it was at his own expense.

"…But you'll still come as my date, right?" Ana asked after she was done laughing, and Christian saw her gaze at him with a cute little smirk on her face. His heart seemed to beat right out of his chest at the sight of her, and he grinned at her fully.

 _She's asking me out!_

"I would be honored to, Ms. Steele," Christian said with formal politeness, but with the huge smile still on his face. Ana giggled.

"Good."

The rest of their dinner went by with little incident; they continued eating the delicious meal Gail had prepared for them, chatting casually about their day. Ana got excited when Gail brought out dessert – two slices of homemade lemon meringue pie with toasted coconut. It was mouth-wateringly delicious, and Ana couldn't stop raving about it. Christian could only smile at how adorable she was, and made a mental note to ask Gail to make that pie the next time Ana came over.

After dessert, they cleared the dishes away, and Christian dismissed Gail for the evening. It was time for him to be alone with his girl now – in a moment of inspiration, he led Ana into the great room and plugged his Ipod into the surround sound system. A familiar Sinatra ballad began to fill the large space, and Christian turned back to Ana, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Dance with me?"

Ana smiled and blushed cutely before placing her hand in his. He pulled her flush against his chest, and with his hand on the small of her back, her fingers gripping his shoulder, and their joined tucked against their shoulders, they began to dance, smiling all the while. They moved in a slow circle, and after a couple minutes, Ana tucked her head against his shoulder with a small, contented sigh. Christian rested his cheek against the top of her head and gazed out the window toward Seattle. The sky was an inky blue dusk, and stars could be seen faintly over the bright lights of the city below.

Christian closed his eyes, feeling more content than he had ever felt before in his life.

"…Christian?" Ana asked quietly, her head not moving from its place on his shoulder.

"Hm?" Christian turned his face so he could press his lips against her hair. _So sweet._

Ana didn't say anything for a few seconds. "…Nevermind," she mumbled. There was something in her voice Christian couldn't place, and he frowned slightly before halting their dancing. He pulled away from her an inch or two so he could look down at her.

"Ana, what is it?"

Ana shook her head, biting her lip in an attempt to hide her frown. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to ruin the moment or anything. We don't have to talk about it…"

"If something's bothering you, Ana, then we should talk about it," Christian insisted. He pulled away a little further so he could look into her eyes. "What is it?"

Ana stared down at the floor for a second before letting out a sigh. She glanced up into Christian's eyes, a worried expression on her face. "Are you happy with this?"

Christian's heart suddenly started to beat a panicked staccato in his chest, freezing the breath in his lungs. _What the hell was she saying?_

"Are you not happy?" Christian asked, his voice breaking with confused distress, and Ana's eyes widened when she realized what she said.

"Oh – no! No, that's not what I'm saying!" she insisted, and Christian let out a small breath of relief. "I am so happy being with you - I truly am! I just want to know if _you're_ happy."

Christian's panic disappeared, but now he could only stare at her – did she really not know? "Ana…" He gripped her hands tighter and stared imploringly into her eyes. "Of _course_ I'm happy with us. I can't even remember a time in my life when I was more happy! Have I given you any indication that I feel otherwise?"

Ana shook her head, though the worried look in her eyes didn't go away. "No… I just…" She shut her eyes and shook her head. "It's stupid. Forget it."

Christian let out a frustrated sigh. "Ana…" he began imploringly. When she didn't say anything, he led her over to the couch so they could sit down. Christian grabbed one of the remotes on the coffee table and shut the music off before turning back to her. "Ana, talk to me, please. What's the matter?"

Ana didn't say anything for a moment, and she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "…Are you upset that we haven't had sex yet?" she asked, so quietly Christian wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

"Um…" Whatever he was expecting her to say, it sure as hell wasn't that. He was speechless for a moment as he tried to formulate a response.

Ana had turned beet-red. "I mean… I know that's where our relationship is eventually heading, but I just want to know if you're okay that we're taking things slow?"

Christian softened, feeling a mounting sense of relief. "This was all that was bothering you?" She nodded nervously. "Oh, Ana…" He reached a hand toward her and cupped her soft cheek. "Of course I'm okay with taking things slow with you. You are so special to me – I would wait a thousand years to be with you. You know that, right?"

Ana leaned into Christian's hand, giving him a watery smile. "Yeah, I do. I told you it was stupid…"

"Hey," Christian said firmly. "It's not stupid. After everything I dumped on you last week, it's understandable that you're feeling a bit insecure. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I just don't want you to feel like I'm holding out on you or something," Ana looked at him, the worry still evident on her beautiful face. "All of your past relationships were about sex. That's basically all you expected from women. But now…" Ana hesitated, looking ashamed, and Christian didn't want her to finish that thought.

"Stop," he said firmly, and she looked up at him. "Don't say that – don't even think that. I never wanted to be with those other women – not in the way that I want to be with you. You deserve so much better than that. Just the thought of treating you like one of my submissives makes me want to throw up!"

Ana shook her head. "I never doubted your feelings for me, Christian," she said sincerely. "And I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that I'm different for you." She gave him a shy smile, and Christian's heart thumped faster with overwhelming affection. "I just want you to know how much you mean to me, and that I never want you to think I'm holding out on you."

"I don't think that, Ana," Christian insisted, imploring her to believe him. "I'll never think that. And I never want you to compromise for me - we'll make love when we're both good and ready. And trust me when I say it's going to be fantastic." He quirked his lips up in a salacious grin, and Ana let out a giggle.

"Okay," she nodded, and Christian knew that she finally believed him. He smiled at her fully before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

"Good."

* * *

*Earlier that day*

~Susannah~

"You're leaving?"

Susannah was beyond shocked – when Marcy had asked her to come into her office, Susannah figured it had something to do with her work performance, or perhaps with that long lunch she had just had with Ana. The last thing she expected was for Marcy to make this candid confession to her after they had taken their seats on either side of her desk.

"Yes, I will be leaving this company," Marcy admitted solemnly, staring down at her hands. Her posture was straight and her hands were clasped professionally in front of her, but Susannah could tell by the tone of her voice that she was struggling with what she was trying to say. "Not at this very moment, but within the next month or so. There's still a lot to be done here – Cynthia's book is going to hit the shelves in a couple weeks, and a few weeks after that, Seattle Independent Publishing will become Grey Publishing. I feel once that transition is made, things will be settled down enough here that I'll be able to take my leave."

Susannah still felt slightly dumbfounded by this news. "Wow, Marcy… is GEH promoting you or something?"

"No," Marcy said, shifting slightly in her chair. "I actually accepted an executive director job at a nonprofit organization here in Seattle. I will be leaving GEH entirely."

Susannah somehow felt even more shocked by this news, but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Wow – congratulations Marcy! That's amazing! So what's the organization?"

"It's called the Mid-Atlantic Support Corps," Marcy explained with a glimmer of a smile. "It's run by an old army buddy of my husband's, and it raises money to send medical help to people in third-world countries who've been exposed to toxic chemicals or radiation…"

For the next couple minutes, Marcy talked about the organization and what her role in it would be, which was to dictate and execute the grant proposals for various foundations in the area. Susannah listened with rapt attention; it all sounded very fascinating, but Susannah couldn't help but wonder why Marcy was telling her all this.

"Does Marco know you're leaving?" Susannah asked once Marcy stopped talking. Surely, their boss knew what was going on too?

"No, not yet. In fact, you're the only person I've told so far," Marcy admitted, sounding oddly nervous.

"Oh," Susannah blinked, her intrigue and confusion mounting by the second. "Why me?"

Marcy took a deep breath. "Because when I leave this company… I would like you to come with me."

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh, what a twist! Bet you didn't see that one coming:)**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! Now enjoy the party :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

~Ana~

Time always seemed to move faster whenever she was extremely busy, Ana knew. It was the same during her days in school – midterms and finals, though incredibly stressful, always seemed to be the only times in the semester that passed by in the blink of an eye. Working on Cynthia's book nonstop for ten days straight felt like that same sort of rushed crunch time Ana was so used to back when she was still at university, but the payoff wasn't end-of-term frat parties or graduation celebrations…

This time, it was Cynthia Cormann's launch day party.

Ana found herself anticipating this party more and more as the days wore on – while spending extra time with Cynthia didn't exactly appeal to her, this entire experience could be huge opportunity for her and could greatly benefit her career. It almost seemed too good to be true: never in a million years did Ana imagine herself in this position, where she would get to attend a party with her billionaire boyfriend and have a real opportunity to further her career.

Changing jobs had never appealed to Ana before, but recently it felt like more of a possibility. It was probably because her relationships with people at work had been taking a sudden downturn, unfortunately. She and Susannah had been speaking less and less at work over the past couple weeks – what with the combination of working extra hours on publishing Cynthia's book and Ana now knowing about Susannah past, there didn't really seem to be anything Ana wanted to say to her anymore. They didn't have a fight or anything, but rather they just slowly and awkwardly began to drift away from each other as the days wore on. It was a painful and rather depressing experience, Ana had to admit, but maybe it was all for the best.

Susannah seemed to be upset by the digression of their friendship too. Most of the time now, Susannah wouldn't even be at her desk: she claimed to be having one-on-one meetings with Marcy, but Ana knew the truth. Susannah was avoiding her, and Ana wasn't going to try to stop her.

If this was going to be her life at SIP now, Ana decided she was going to try to focus her mind on other things, like the release party. It wasn't too depressing, at least.

* * *

*2 weeks later*

Friday, 7:45 pm

Cynthia Cormann's Launch Party

Grey Estate

Being dragged by Kate to the Coping Together charity event last month was probably the best thing that could have happened to Ana, because otherwise she would have had no idea how to dress for an upper-class black-tie soiree in Seattle. Her new full-length, black silk strapless evening gown, chandelier earrings, and smoky-eye makeup seemed to fit in with the crowd of the other black-tie partygoers, without being too flashy for onlookers to stare. It was quite unlike Miss Kavanagh's sparkly gold Duluxiana halter dress, at least.

"I swear, it's like people don't here don't even bother looking at this year's fashion trends," Kate said, tilting her chin up while glaring at a passing group of staring women. "Read a magazine for God's sake."

"Ignore them, Kate. You look fabulous," Ana smiled at her friend while taking a sip of champagne. Kate did look amazing – the girl could rock pretty much anything and still look gorgeous, but since everyone else was wearing classy dark and muted colors, her sparkly little number did seem to stick out like a sore thumb.

Ana felt incredibly grateful that her best friend was here tonight – the whole Kavanagh family had been invited to the release party, minus Ethan and his fiancé, who were back in Portland. Kate had been more than enough of a buffer for Ana, though, and she was going to need it once the lady of the hour showed up and started giving her all her attention.

"This is some gathering," Kate observed, glancing around the hundreds of people in the marquee while sipping her vodka soda. "Cynthia really knows how to throw a party."

"I'll say," Ana agreed with a smirk. "How does your family know her again?"

"My dad sort of works with her," Kate shrugged dismissively, stirring her drink. "Her agent signed a contract with the _Nooz_ so that all of her books will get an article written about them along with a personal interview with each release."

Ana shook her head amusedly. "Honestly, I don't know why she doesn't self-publish all her books. She's doing such an excellent job of marketing herself, it's stupid."

"I know, right?" Kate snickered, but her smile quickly fell when she noticed someone behind Ana.

"Oh – hello Cynthia."

Ana quickly turned around to see the woman herself – Cynthia Cormann. She looked positively stunning in a royal blue sleeveless gown with a plunging neckline and silver beaded design along the fringe. Her jet-black hair was pulled back in a curly up-do, which only highlighted her gorgeously tanned skin and cherry-red lips. She smiled fully at the two young ladies, her straight teeth almost blindingly white.

"Good evening Katherine – Anastasia," Cynthia greeted them sweetly, playing the part of the gracious host. "I'm so glad you could make it! I do hope you both are having a good time."

"We're having an excellent time, thank you," Kate smiled politely, and Cynthia smiled politely back.

"I'm glad to hear it. And what about you, Ana?" Cynthia turned to look at Ana, her expression immediately morphing into a look of warmth.

"Oh, everything has been so amazing!" Ana exclaimed with more enthusiasm than what was probably sincere. "Thank you so much for inviting me – this night is so incredible!"

"Oh, my dear, you are very welcome," Cynthia said sweetly. She gently grasped Ana's elbow with her French manicured hand. "I was actually hoping to catch you alone, darling – would you like me to show you around and introduce you to some people?"

"Sure!" Ana grinned brightly. She turned back to Kate, "Is it alright if I go with Cynthia for a bit?"

"Of course – you go ahead and have fun," Kate grinned at her friend. If she was annoyed that Cynthia was deliberately ignoring her, she didn't show it; more than likely she was just amused about the show her friend was putting on for Ms. Cormann. "Talk to you later?"

"Yeah – see you!" Ana said loudly as Cynthia pulled her away through the crowd of people.

"Ana, I'm so glad to see that you're making friends here, but you really don't want to spend a lot of time with that Kavanagh girl," Cynthia said conspiratorially to Ana as soon as they were out of earshot. "Katherine is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but I know her father, and trust me when I say she is bad news."

Ana, surprised by her bluntness, could only nod. Cynthia didn't seem to notice Ana taking offense to anything as she directed her through the crowd of people, smiling and greeting people as she went. Soon, she and Ana approached a well-dressed older gentleman standing near the drinks table.

"Ana, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Logan Tresslow, editor-in-chief of the university press at Purdue University. Logan, this is the incredibly talented young woman who edited my novel, Miss Anastasia Steele."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Steele." Logan shook Ana's hand with a genuine smile on his face, and Ana smiled back.

"Likewise."

The three of them talked for a few minutes about the publishing industry and the Purdue University press before another person approached their group: a gorgeous Hispanic woman rocking blonde highlights and a slinky black bandage dress.

"Gloria! _Querido!_ Come here and meet my lovely editor, Ms. Anastasia Steele," Cynthia said immediately. "Ana, this is Gloria Savalas – a fashion writer for _Vogue_ magazine."

"A pleasure to meet you, Anna-staysha," Gloria spoke with a heavy Spanish accent, but smiled at Ana warmly. Ana liked her immediately.

"A pleasure to meet you too," she smiled back.

For the next half hour or so, Ana spoke to various people in the writing and publishing industry, all of whom knew Cynthia in one way or another. Cynthia was obviously ecstatic to have Ana with her tonight – she kept pulling her around like a show pony, introducing her to important people while reveling in her connection to all of them. Despite Cynthia's over-the-top behavior, however, Ana couldn't help but be impressed: Cynthia had a lot of connections to important people within her profession, but some of these people just seemed way beyond what seemed normal. Ana idly wondered how she was able to get so popular with all these people. Maybe she paid them?

"Oh, Ana…" Cynthia had been dragging Ana once again through the crowd, but stopped dead in her tracks near a man standing with his back to them. She quickly turned to Ana, her eyes wide with excitement: "That right there is Mr. Christian Grey, the CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings. He is one of the most important men in all of Seattle, perhaps even in the entire country! Would you like me to introduce you?"

Oh, this was just too good – Ana smiled at Cynthia, hoping her amusement was masked with a look of humble gratitude. "Oh, I don't know if he'd want to meet me…"

"Nonsense! Of course he'd want to meet you – I do know his family very well, after all," Cynthia said with a superior chuckle, and Ana bit back her smirk.

"Well… okay, then. Why not?" she said with a small shrug.

Cynthia turned and walked confidently over to Christian, reaching for his arm. Ana bit back a giggle when she saw him glance over at Cynthia, clearly annoyed at her overfamiliarity. "Christian, darling, please forgive the intrusion, but I would just like to introduce you to the wonderful young woman who edited my novel, Ms. Anastasia Steele."

Christian's expression of confusion and annoyance quickly morphed into amusement as his eyes landed on Ana. Ana simply smiled up at him, trying to quell the laughter that was threatening to bubble up inside of her throat.

"Oh. Pleased to meet you – Anastasia, was it?" Christian reached out to shake her hand, feigning politeness while the amusement still danced in his gray eyes.

"Yes, but my friends all call me Ana," Ana smirked, shaking his hand with equal politeness.

"Oh, but Anastasia is such an beautiful name. Ana sounds much too dull." Christian grinned at her, and Ana pursed her lips, fighting a smile.

"Well, I suppose it is, but my friends would probably agree with the assessment that I am pretty dull," she contended warmly.

Christian raised an eyebrow at her, shoving the hand that wasn't holding his drink into his suit pocket. "And these friends of yours… do they include a boyfriend perhaps?"

"Why yes," Ana said without skipping a beat, ignoring Cynthia's alarmed expression. "He's here with me tonight, actually."

"Really?" Christian brought his drink up to his lips, smirking. "Well, I look forward to meeting him."

"Oh, I don't think you'd like him very much," Ana said with an innocent shrug. "He can be a bit high-handed."

"'High-handed'?" Christian was completely failing to hide his amusement now. He suddenly moved forward so that his and Ana's bodies were only a hairsbreadth apart; he leaned down to whisper in her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin: "Well, perhaps we could get his hands to go a bit lower, then, shall we?"

Ana giggled at Christian's audacity as he grinned down at her, snaking a hand around her waist before pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek.

"Having a good time, baby?" he asked in a normal voice, their little skit clearly over and done with. Ana smiled up at him, not bothering to hide the affection in her eyes anymore.

"Yeah, I am. Cynthia was just introducing me to some important people at the party. Which includes you, apparently," she added with a sarcastic grin. Christian laughed loudly, still holding her close.

"Really? Well, I hope you set the record straight," he smiled fondly down at Ana before looking up at Cynthia. "Congratulations on your book, Cynthia. This is a great party – I know my mother was very excited to host it for you."

Cynthia gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Thank you, dear. I'm glad to hear it."

"And speaking of my mother…" Christian turned back to Ana. "I think she was looking for you earlier."

"Really? How come?"

"I'm not sure, but I think she's over by the sound stage right now," Christian said, craning his head over the crowd of people. "Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay. I'm sure you have some more schmoozing to do," Ana grinned up at him. "I'll go talk to her, don't worry."

Christian chuckled, "Okay, baby," he said before leaning down and capturing her lips again in a tender kiss. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye baby," Ana smiled at him as he gave her a sweet smile before turning and heading back into the crowd of partygoers. Ana turned back to Cynthia, who was regarding her with a raised eyebrow and an unreadable expression on her face.

"Well, I see you two have already been acquainted," she said in a clipped voice. "You couldn't have clued me in a little beforehand?"

Ana blushed and glanced down at her feet.

"Have you two been dating awhile?" Cynthia asked after a moment, her expression still a bit reserved. Ana shrugged.

"A little over a month now," she explained succinctly. Luckily, a couple people walked up to Cynthia at that moment to congratulate her on her book, and she immediately turned to greet them graciously, effectively ignoring Ana now. Ana quietly excused herself and headed over to the sound stage, feeling a bit relieved.

 _Well, that's one way to get out of Cynthia's clutches._

Ana maneuvered around the crowds of people, heading in the direction of the sound stage, craning her head around in an attempt to get a glimpse of Grace. Finally, when she was only a couple feet away from the stage, Ana suddenly stopped in her tracks, eyes wide.

"Susannah?"

Susannah was standing next to the stage, looking gorgeous in a dark purple quarter-sleeve cocktail dress. She glanced over at Ana and smiled – she was talking to Marcy and, strangely enough, Grace. The latter suddenly glanced up and noticed Ana.

"Ana, dear – there you are!" Grace smiled warmly, and Ana smiled back, approaching the small group. "I'm so glad you found us! I saw Cynthia taking you under her wing earlier, and I didn't think I would see you again for the rest of the night." She laughed, and Ana couldn't help but laugh too.

"Me neither – but Christian managed to save me in time," she smiled, and Grace chuckled. "He mentioned you were looking for me?"

"Oh, yes! These lovely women here said that they knew you." Grace turned and looked toward Susannah and Marcy, who both smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry, I was just hoping to have a quick word with Ana sometime tonight," Susannah said while glancing uncertainly at Marcy. Ana looked between the two, wondering what was going on.

"No problem. We can talk now - let's go over here," Ana gestured to a more secluded part of the marquee, and she and Susannah walked over there together.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming tonight. It wasn't exactly planned," Susannah explained once they reached the area away from the others. They stopped and turned to face each other. "Marcy's husband had to go out of town, so I filled in as her plus-one. I hope you're not upset with me or anything."

"Of course not! I totally understand," Ana smiled, though she couldn't ignore the uncomfortable clench in her stomach when she realized she and her friend couldn't talk to each other about things like this anymore. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, it's about Marcy," Susannah said hesitantly after a moment. "I'm not really supposed to tell you this yet, but… she's actually going to be leaving SIP in a couple weeks."

Ana blinked, shocked. That was the very last thing she expected Susannah to say. "What? Why?"

"She got a new job as an executive director at a nonprofit organization here in Seattle," Susannah explained. "She's going to start working there at the beginning of next month."

Ana felt stunned – how was this happening? Marcy was great at her job; she and GEH brought their company back from the brink of disaster! Why on earth would she give that up for some director position?

"That's not the only thing…" Susannah continued, sounding more nervous than ever. She glanced down at her hands. "I'm actually going to be leaving SIP with her."

Ana felt her heart almost stop beating in her chest. Surely, she had misheard – Susannah was leaving SIP too?

"You're leaving for the same job?" Ana asked, her voice marred in confusion.

"Not really. As part of her executive director position, Marcy needs to gather a team of writers to write grants for local foundations who donate money to the cause. I'm going to be working under her still, but my job is just going to be a bit different than what it is now."

"So you're going to write grants now?" Ana asked, sounding impressed. Susannah shrugged modestly.

"I took a class for it in college, and I actually had the opportunity to write a proposal for Feed the Nations a couple years ago. I really enjoyed doing that, and it's all on my resume, so that's why Marcy offered me the job."

"You don't enjoy copyediting?" Ana grinned slightly, and Susannah snickered.

"It's okay, but it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing with my life. With grant writing, I feel like I could actually be making a difference, y'know?"

Ana nodded, but her grin soon faded, thinking about something that hadn't occurred to her before. "Um... you're not suddenly leaving because of what happened between you and me, are you?"

Susannah's smile faded as well. "No, Ana," she said firmly, her voice conveying her sincerity. "Please, don't think that."

"I just don't want you to uproot your life just because of what happened," Ana continued earnestly. "I mean, it sucked, but it's over now – we can go back to how things used to be!"

"No, we can't," Susannah insisted, and Ana stared at her. "What happened, happened – there's no going back now. I knew things were going to get weird between us if you found out about my past, but now that the cat's out of the bag, we both have to move on. It sucks, but that's the reality."

"So – what are you saying?" Ana frowned, trying to mask the hurt in her voice. "We just cut each other out of our lives now? Like our friendship never meant anything?"

"No," Susannah said, her voice more gentle now. "Not exactly. I don't want to cut you completely out of my life, Ana – you're my friend, and you always will be. I just don't think sitting next to each other every single day is going to work out for us anymore." Susannah glanced down at her hand, apologetic. "I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel."

Ana continued to frown, but didn't say anything. As much as she hated to admit it, Susannah did have a point. Things had been getting more and more uncomfortable between them over the weeks, and while Ana had legitimately hoped the weird feelings would go away, she realized now that that wasn't the reality of their situation. Everything had changed between them now, and they were going to have to contend with that.

"I'll still be working in Seattle," Susannah continued fairly, glancing back up at Ana. "So it's not like I'm disappearing forever. And if you want, we can meet up once in awhile to catch up. Just you and me."

Ana smiled at her friend. She really liked the sound of that. "Let's make it Finn's Corner and you've got yourself a deal."

Susannah laughed, grinning from ear to ear. "Done."

~/~

Ana and Susannah began to walk together back to the party.

"So now that Marcy's leaving SIP, who's going to be taking her job?" Ana asked after a moment.

Susannah didn't say anything, and Ana turned to look at her; Susannah's lips were pressed together and her eyes were shining, and Ana couldn't help but grin at her.

"Susie, what do you know?" she asked humorously, but couldn't ignore the burgeoning feeling of hope that filled her chest.

Susannah only glanced over at her friend and smiled knowingly.

* * *

 **A/N: Again, sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless!**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Thank you for all of your wonderful love and support! I think you all will really** **enjoy this next chapter ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

~Christian~

Christian had to admit, his little joke on Cynthia with Ana had probably been the highlight of this incredibly enjoyable evening. It was exhilarating to be so in sync with Ana – it was a unique feeling Christian never thought he would ever be able to experience with someone before.

It was strange, now thinking about his life only a few months ago, before he had met Ana. So much had happened to him since she had come into his life that it really seemed like everything that had happened before it seemed moot. His birth mother, Elena Lincoln, his submissives… it was almost as if none of that shit had ever happened to him. Of course, he wasn't so naïve to think that none of these things would potentially affect his relationship with Ana (his unlikely connection with Susannah was certainly indicative of that), but for the first time ever, Christian felt free from those awful demons that had plagued him in the past.

For the first time ever, he felt he could finally allow himself to be happy.

Christian right now just stood at the bar, sipping at his whiskey on the rocks while admiring Ana from a distance, much like how he had done at the Coping Together charity event all those weeks ago. She was in a corner of the marquee, talking to a woman he didn't even bother looking at, because Ana was just so breathtaking in her black strapless gown that he couldn't bring himself to see anything else. She looked as beautiful now as she did back at the charity gala, possibly even more so – back then, Christian never could have anticipated his feelings for her to progress as much as they had. It was almost frightening how much he felt for her now, but it was so exhilarating at the same time.

At that Coping Together charity event, Christian remembered that he had decided to make Ana his submissive. His mind had changed soon enough, however: it was amazing how much had changed for him in that respect. To think, that in the course of only a couple months, he had shifted from the only things he knew, which were superficial relationships exclusively about sex, to an actual real relationship that was about so much more. Life was truly funny in that way.

Ana had voiced her concerns to him about the fact that they hadn't had sex yet – that they were 'taking it slow', so to speak. Christian tried to assuage her fears, however; while he couldn't deny how much he wanted Ana in a physical sense, which was a whole hell of a lot, at the same time he was eager to try this celibacy stint for her. She had rightly pointed out to him that all of his past 'relationships' had all been about sex, and perhaps therein lay the problem – he had only expected sex from women, which led him to only empty, meaningless hookups that he was forced hide away from the world because of the sadistic nature of them. Now, however, he felt he had a chance at having an actual, real relationship with Ana that was about more than just sex. Their relationship was more about emotion and passion and… love.

Yes, love.

 _Pretty sappy, Grey_.

These new feelings Christian had for Ana allowed him to consider things he had never bothered to consider with anyone before – a future. For the first time in his twenty-eight years, he, Christian Grey, began to think about his future with someone. It was just an idle thought he would have whenever he found his mind wandering during the day. Lately, he would catch himself in his office or somewhere, daydreaming about Ana and just thinking about what it would be like to settle down with her someday. They could get married and have a nice house somewhere in Seattle, possibly right off the Puget Sound, and maybe get a dog or two that could run around their spacious lawn. Perhaps they could even have kids in a few years, making them a small, loving little family unit…

Hypothetically, of course.

Christian shook his head, grinning to himself. God, what was Ana doing to him? A couple months ago, he couldn't even imagine himself being in a conventional relationship with anyone. But now…

Now, he couldn't imagine doing this with anyone but Ana.

He cast his eyes around the marquee again, and noticed Ana walking back into the crowd with the woman she was talking to. Christian was surprised to see that it was in fact Susannah.

 _When did she get here?_

Ana, as if she could sense his eyes on her, suddenly glanced his way. She smiled at him, her gorgeous blue eyes glittering; her rose-colored lips curled upward in a breathtaking grin, which was visible even from the distance. Christian's heart seemed to catch in his throat at the very sight of her.

 _His Angel_

After whispering something to Susannah, Christian saw Ana turn and begin to head over toward the bar area, her eyes on Christian. Christian could feel his smile grow wider and his heart beat faster as he watched her approach, as if in slow motion; God, she had only been away from him for forty-five minutes or so, but he already yearned for her presence.

He stepped forward once she was a few feet away from him, and she smiled widely up at him before kissing him hello. "Hello handsome."

"Good evening gorgeous," Christian played along with her, loving the carefree banter that was developing between them. "Any other unsuspecting partygoers you wanted to play a trick on with me tonight or something?"

Ana laughed. "No, but that was a lot of fun. The look on Cynthia's face was priceless!"

"She hates it when people have higher connections than her," Christian shook his head humorously. "She thinks that since she got my mother to host her book release party, she has an in with the whole Grey family."

"I did always get the impression that she was a bit of a social climber," Ana agreed with a small shrug. "She probably hates me now, though, since I basically one-upped her own social strata by revealing that I was your girlfriend."

Christian chuckled. "Probably. She may even go so far as to get another copyeditor once she writes her next book."

Ana smiled, but her smile soon faded in to a thoughtful expression. She glanced down at her hands, fiddling with her manicured fingernails, and Christian frowned while watching her.

"What is it, baby?"

Ana glanced up into his eyes. "Did you know that Marcy is going to be leaving SIP?"

Christian raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I think Marco mentioned it to me the other day. It sounds like she's leaving GEH altogether."

Ana nodded. "Yeah, she's going to be an executive director for a nonprofit organization. Susannah's going to be going with her."

This surprised Christian. "Really? How come?"

"She said she wants to be a grant writer and not a copyeditor anymore," Ana explained. "But I think that she had… other reasons for not wanting to stay."

Christian grimaced. "I'm sorry, Ana."

Ana shook her head. "No, actually… I think this will be a good thing. A lot has happened between me and her over the past couple weeks, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think her leaving will be the best for us. I don't think we'll sever ties completely, though, so I guess that's good."

Christian smiled at her; he was honestly a bit relieved to hear Susannah wasn't going to be staying at SIP anymore. This whole situation had started with her working right next to Ana, but now it seemed that there was a real chance for all of them to move on. "I'm glad to hear it."

Ana smiled shyly up at him and suddenly stepped forward, lightly taking his hand in hers. She gently ran her thumb over his fingers and along his knuckles, much like how he had done when they first shook hands after they met at GEH. Tingles from where she touched him shot up Christian's hand, and he couldn't help the smile that reached his lips as his eyes followed her movements.

"I've been thinking," she said slowly, also looking down at their joined hands. "About you..." Her fingers still ran along his knuckles. "Us."

"Oh? And what exactly about us have you been thinking?" Christian asked softly. Something in her voice sounded so sweet and seductive, and Christian could feel his heart beating a little faster as she went on:

"I was thinking… that life has a funny way of showing us what we want," Ana said quietly, still in that same slow, deliberate voice. "That we should know the good things that we have and appreciate them for what they are…"

Her soft voice and her gentle ministrations to his hand sent a very clear message to Christian's dick, but he wanted to hear her say it out loud. "What are you saying, Ana?"

She finally looked up into his eyes, her blue irises shining with love and affection and – could it be? – desire. "What I'm saying… is that I want to be with you," she whispered, her voice soft as silk. "Tonight."

Christian thought he felt his mind explode into a million pieces – could he have been hearing her correctly? The frenzied pounding of his heart seemed to indicate what she had said was real. He could only stare at her. _Fuck_ – this was like his fucking dream come true! But he had to know if she was actually ready and not just saying so.

"Ana…" Christian breathed, unable to say much else as he let go of her hand to bring it up to her cheek. "Are you sure?"

Ana nodded, her eyes glittering beautifully in the moonlight as she stared deep into his eyes. She smiled. "Yes, I'm sure. I think when Susannah told me she was leaving SIP, it finally just hit me that this is the way it's supposed to be. I didn't realize before how much this whole ordeal had messed up my mind, making me doubt everything in my relationships with my friends and with you… but now, with everything that's happening, with Marcy and Susannah, I feel like I can finally move forward." She gently placed her hand over his hand that rested against her cheek. "I feel like _we_ can finally move forward."

Christian continued to gaze deep into her eyes, seeing the sincerity that filled her blue orbs, and he felt a thrill shoot through his bloodstream at the prospect of making love to her tonight. "You truly feel that way? You don't feel like you're compromising for me or anything?"

Ana shook her head. "No, I know I'm not. I'm not just saying this because I think it's what you want to hear from me – I'm saying it because I know you and I trust you, and I know beyond a doubt I want to share this with you." She took a step closer to him so they stood only a few inches apart, and Ana turned her face up toward him, her eyes still shining brightly. "I want to make love to you, Christian."

Christian immediately leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a desperate kiss. God, he wanted her – he wanted her so bad it almost hurt – and he tried to convey his feelings for her in the kiss. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips, and she groaned in response, opening her mouth against his.

"Fuck, Ana…" Christian breathed against her after a few moments of that heated kiss. He didn't care if people around them could see them, he just needed her. "You are so beautiful."

"Did you want to leave now?" Ana whispered breathlessly, her eyelashes fluttering over her lust-filled eyes.

 _Now? How about fucking yesterday!_

Christian whipped out his phone. "Taylor – bring the car around. We leave in five." He hung up without saying goodbye, and Ana giggled as he grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward where Taylor was going to pull up with the Audi. "Let's go."

"Christian, we should at least say goodbye to people," Ana laughed at him, and Christian groaned. _Fuck!_

"Fine. But just my family and your work friends – _that's it_ ," Christian said firmly, and Ana giggled again.

"Alright, fine."

For the next few minutes, Christian and Ana made their rounds, saying goodbye to Grace, Carrick, Elliot, Kate, Susannah, and Marcy (Mia hadn't been able to attend due to wanting to go out clubbing with her girlfriends tonight). Ana made up an excuse to all of them, saying that Christian had a conference call early in the morning, and that was why they were going to be calling it a night. Christian hoped everyone bought that lie, because he was hardly paying attention to what anyone was saying: he had to fight with himself every second to be polite and not just pick Ana up, throw her over his shoulder like a fucking caveman and carry her to Escala. He had to remind himself that this was a special night for Ana – for the both of them – and he ought to treat it as such.

Finally – _finally_ – they got away the party and were now safely ensconced in the backseat of the Audi R8. Christian couldn't resist not touching her anymore, and began brushing his fingers up her leg, pushing open the thigh slit along her silk gown so he could run his hand along one of her long, smooth legs.

"Christian…" Ana breathed as his hand continued to inch upward. He leaned over, beginning to kiss her soft neck and nipping up along her jaw. He felt her pulse quicken and her breath hitch as she tilted her head back, allowing him to continue his ministrations.

"You look so beautiful tonight, Ana," Christian whispered against her skin, and Ana let out a small, needy whimper.

They turned right and pulled into the underground garage beneath Escala, and the change in direction seemed to snap Ana out of her lust-induced stupor. She seemed to remember Taylor was in the car with them, so she straightened up in her seat before clearing her throat and blushing slightly. Christian grinned before pulling away from her too, deliberately leaving his hand on her exposed thigh. He ran his thumb along the smooth skin of her leg, causing goosebumps to erupt where he touched. Ana continued to look straight ahead, though he noticed her body shiver at the sensations he was producing.

Obviously sensing the mounting desire between the two of them, Taylor decided to take the service elevator up to his and Gail's apartment, leaving Ana and Christian to take the main one to the penthouse alone. Good thing too, because once inside, Christian had barely punched in the code when Ana suddenly pounced on him, kissing him with a fierce desperation and carnal need. Christian bit back his smile as he immediately reciprocated.

The elevator began coasting upward, but the two of them were already making out like love-starved teenagers; their hands groped each other's bodies, their teeth clashed fiercely, and their heavy breaths panted desperately against each other's mouths. Christian couldn't get enough of the beautiful woman in his arms, and he wondered to himself how he could have gone so long without being with her like this. This amazingly sweet, gorgeous, sensual creature he was lucky enough to call his girlfriend – it was almost too good to be true.

The elevator dinged open, and Christian and Ana stumbled out into the foyer together, still connected by their lips and hands. Christian backed Ana up against the nearest wall and continued to attack her mouth; her hands tangled into his hair as she kissed him back with equal fervor, and Christian thought his heart was going to pound right out of his chest.

 _Fucking beautiful_

"Christian…" Ana moaned his name again, and that was the motivation he needed to groan into her mouth while sliding his hands around toward the back of her strapless gown. He found the zipper, and slowly pulled it down. Ana's breath hitched.

"Is this okay?" Christian muttered against her lips, worried he had gone too far, but Ana only responded with a small shimmy, allowing the material to pool down around her feet in a silken heap. She now stood before him in only a black strapless bra and sheer black lace panties, contrasting sharply with her perfect alabaster skin. Christian couldn't contain his guttural moan at the sight of her.

 _Christ in heaven_.

"You are so sexy," Christian breathed before pressing his lips against hers again. Ana moaned as she pushed his tux jacket down off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground by his feet. After it was off, Christian immediately re-wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up so her long legs could wrap around his thighs. He pressed her back against the wall to stabilize her as he continued to attack her mouth.

"Bedroom," Ana breathed against him, and Christian didn't need to be told twice.

"Hold on, baby," he muttered, gripping her waist tighter, and Ana quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. In one swift move, Christian had lifted her in his arms and began to sprint through the apartment toward his room. Ana laughed, hanging on for dear life as he bounded up the stairs with her two at a time before reaching his bedroom.

After closing the door behind them, Christian set Ana down on her feet and latched his lips onto hers again. She immediately grasped his bowtie and began to untie it with nimble fingers; Christian quickly undid his cummerbund and pulled his tucked shirt out of his pants. When Ana began undoing the buttons on his shirt, he placed his hands on her hips and began moving her backward toward his bed, still connected by their lips. Ana giggled once the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed and she fell back onto it. Christian felt himself getting harder just by looking at her laid out before him on his mattress.

Ana's eyes were trained on him, and Christian didn't tear his gaze away from her as he pulled his shirt and undershirt off his body. Once he was completely bare chested, he began undoing his belt, and Ana's eyes darkened as they watched him. She bit her lip.

"See something you like, Ms. Steele?" Christian smirked, pulling his pants completely off. He was now only in his boxer briefs, and Ana didn't respond with words, but her eyes only raked up on down his body. Her desire was practically dripping off of her.

"I'll take that as a yes," Christian murmured silkily, leaning forward onto the bed and beginning to crawl up her body, kissing her as he went. He nipped up her soft legs before kissing the juncture of her thighs and brushing his nose up against her flat stomach. Ana's breath hitched as he moved up to her black lace-covered breasts, grasping one in his hand while kissing and nipping at the other. Ana squirmed under his ministrations before arching her back up and reaching behind her to undo the clasps of her strapless bra. She tugged the material away, and Christian felt all thought and reason leave his brain as he gazed down at her bare breasts.

 _Fucking perfect._

"Oh, baby," Christian whispered in veneration as he immediately leaned down and captured a nipple in his mouth. "You look so beautiful like this," he murmured against her sensitized skin.

Ana moaned huskily, her hands tangling in his hair once again. Christian continued laving at her nipple while pressing his hardened member into her leg; Ana suddenly moved her hand down so she touched the seam of his boxer briefs.

"C'mere," Ana whispered to him, and Christian thought it was the sexiest thing he'd ever heard in his life. He stopped kissing her nipple and obediently sat up so he was straddling her legs.

Ana propped herself up on her elbows and tugged his briefs down, allowing his throbbing member to spring out. Christian saw her eyes widen at the sight of it, but she didn't falter her approach as she immediately grabbed it in her hand and began to stroke it. Christian groaned in pleasure, closing his eyes and tilting his head back as the pleasurable feeling of her hand on him radiated through his body. He had dreamt of this moment, but his dreams didn't do the reality justice.

As if sensing his mounting pleasure, Ana then leaned forward and took the tip of his cock into her mouth.

"Fuck! Ana…" Christian hissed at the heavenly sensation of her tongue flicking out to taste him. Fuck, he was so close already – he didn't know if he would last if she continued on in this vein.

"Baby, I want to be inside you," Christian whispered after a couple moments, and Ana moaned against him before taking her mouth off him. Christian then leaned down and captured her lips with his, shifting his hips down so he was aligned with her center. He moved his hands down her torso, brushing his thumbs over her taut nipples, before dragging his fingers to the seam of her panties.

"Please," Ana breathed, and Christian began to drag the scrap of lace down and off her legs. She was now completely naked before him, her flushed skin practically vibrating with her arousal, and Christian had never been so turned on in his entire life.

"You're perfect," Christian breathed before leaning down and capturing her lips in his own once again. Ana moaned, tangling her fingers in his hair again as she reciprocated, rubbing her hot center along his hard dick. Christian so wanted to taste her, but he didn't think he could last much longer without being inside of her. Without breaking their connection, he reached out toward the end table by his bed and opened a drawer, grabbing a condom from within. He ripped it open and quickly rolled it over his dick in near-record time.

"Look at me, baby." Christian leaned over her again and grasped her hands so they were by her sides. As soon as Ana's big blue eyes fluttered up to meet his, he slowly entered her.

 _Holy fuck!_

Ana gasped, her mouth popping open and her eyes snapping shut. Christian clenched his jaw at the feeling of finally being inside of her. _Fuck!_ It was otherworldly – she was so slick and warm and tight. Shit, he was going to lose it all too soon if he didn't start moving.

"Baby, I'm gonna move now," Christian breathed, leaning down and kissing her jaw, and Ana nodded, her eyes still closed. He pulled out a little before slowly moving back into her tight heat, groaning softly.

"Fuck, Ana, you feel so good."

Ana only moaned, her mind obviously lost in the sensations being produced.

Christian continued making love to her at this pace, moving in and out of her with deliberate slowness. He had never experienced anything like this before – this intimacy, this passion, with another person. Being with Ana was so incredible, and there was really no way to describe it. She was just simply perfect - _t_ _hey_ were perfect – like this. They were now connected, in body and soul, and Christian felt as if all the sins of his past were suddenly washed clean by the tender caress of the beautiful woman lying beneath him right now.

The significance of tonight hit Christian like a brick wall as he continued to thrust into Ana's hot core, and he could almost feel his chest tighten with the emotion of it. There would never be another night like this for them – they would have the rest of their lives for things like sex, and Christian would certainly want to spend as much time as possible buried inside of Ana, but he knew that tonight was special. Tonight was his last first time – both of their last first times. The magnitude of it all crashed heavily on Christian's mind in a single moment, and the emotional upheaval of it all nearly made him tear up.

"Christian." Ana moaned his name as his thrusts increased in speed. He was so close, but he was determined to make her come before he did. He reached in between them and rubbed at her clit, causing her arousal to peak exponentially.

"Oh, God! Christian, I… I'm gonna…" Ana started stammering, her breaths coming in sharp staccato pants. Christian started moving faster against her.

"Come on, baby – come for me," Christian gasped, still thrusting erratically, and after a second or two of heavy panting, Ana suddenly came in a burst of glory. She screamed his name, arching her back and convulsing wildly, her pussy clenching around his dick like a vice. Christian grit his teeth, and after two more strokes, thrust completely into her and came harder than he had ever come before in his life.

 _Holy fucking shit!_

"Fuck, Ana…" Christian panted, continuing to move in and out of her, both of them coming down from their incredible orgasms. "Fuck…"

Ana let out a breathless giggle. "Yeah…" she panted, her gorgeous face looking flushed and sweaty from exertion. Unable to resist her like this, Christian leaned down and kissed her lips, holding her body to his own. Ana moaned against him, wrapping her arms around his back as he slowly, deliberately ravished her mouth. They were still intimately connected, and Christian continued to ease in and out of her, relishing in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

This woman, this night, this connection they shared… it was all so incredibly perfect. Christian couldn't think of a more amazing person to share this with, and he vaguely wondered what could have happened in his awful, fucked-up life that allowed him to end up having someone as good and sweet and perfect as Ana in his arms right now.

Christian's lips migrated to Ana's jaw, and as her hands went to gently cup his head, she distinctly heard her breathe the words "I love you," into the night.

Christian stopped his ministrations and lifted his face so he could look at her. This was the first time she had said that to him since he had told her about his past a couple weeks ago. While the closeness they had felt after his confession to her was what prompted her to say it before, Christian knew this time it was different. She truly did love him… and he loved her so much it almost hurt.

"I love you, too," he whispered, and he couldn't resist his smile when he saw her face light up at his words.

True love was what they shared, and true love was what Christian had never experienced before. It was so amazing and all-consuming and incredible, and Christian couldn't imagine himself feeling this way for anybody else.

He was so happy to have fallen in love with Anastasia Steele.


	36. Postscript

**Hi friends!**

 **If you haven't done so already, go and read the chapter I posted right before this one. I thought I'd leave you all on a little lemony note, so go on and enjoy!**

 **I would just like to say thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers over the past few months: you guys have made my first foray into FSOG fanfiction a truly wonderful experience, and I can't thank you enough for all your love and support :)**

 **Sadly, I am going to be calling this the end of The One You're With, at least for now. My original intention was to make this story a trilogy and dive immediately into part two once this first part was over. However, life is beginning to get super crazy for me, and I really need to stop and focus on my studies right now. I honestly don't know what the future holds for me, but I do hope to keep writing for fun on this site once school is all said and done with.**

 **I still have a lot of ideas bouncing around inside my head, and if I do choose to continue this story, I'll most likely replace this chapter with an epilogue before beginning part two. If I don't get around to finishing it, however, I do actually have another FSOG story in the works that I'm really excited about and I hope to write for you someday soon. All my focus can only be on one of these stories, though, not both – so I would have to pick either one or the other to write. I suppose time will tell what I decide to do.**

 **So I'm not going to be giving up writing entirely – I'm only taking a small break for now. But don't worry, I'll be back before you know it :)**

 **Goodbye for now, my wonderful readers!**

 **Love,**

 **StrawPaj**


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